On Love and Death: The Thermals

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"WE'VE ALWAYS kind of taken pride in doing really simple, direct live shows," says the Thermals vocalist/guitarist Hutch Harris. "We just like no filler, no B.S., not a lot of screwing around, not a lot of shtick. We rehearse our songs to death and then just try to come out and play one after another really well, to pack as many as we can, usually play 22 or 23 songs."

Quick math reveals that playing 22 songs in a single night means that each song can't be much longer than about two minutes. Not a problem for the trio that's already known for it's lo-fi, fast-paced songs and albums.

Harris and bandmate Kathy Foster had been playing together for years in Portland, Ore.'s music scene before forming the Thermals. As Hutch and Kathy, the duo made a small splash with their one self-titled album from 2002. But the following year, they morphed into a trio, changed their name, played a couple shows and got signed to indie powerhouse Sub Pop right off the bat.

Six years later, the trio of Harris, Foster and drummer Westin Glass has released its fourth album, "Now We Can See" (Kill Rock Stars). It's a bit quieter and mellower than the frenetic discs that preceded it — but only a bit. Passion, angst, whirlwind tunes and pummeling drums and guitar chords still share the limelight, but Harris says the introduction of slower, thoughtful material allows the band to explore a new dimension.

"I think a lot of times when we're writing records, we're thinking about the live set — we're thinking about how these new songs will mix when we play them with our older songs. We have so many fast songs that it makes for a more interesting show if you have a couple mellow jams, just something to make the set more dynamic."

He adds, "We love energy and we were raised on punk rock, although every record's getting a little slower. That's just getting older, I guess," Harris says with a laugh.

"I was just kidding about that. I hope it's not just going to get more slow and boring until we quit."

Throughout their tenure, the Thermals have taken a very pronounced stand on politics and religion. Songs have tackled the war in Iraq, cultural norms, hipster ideals and organized religion. But "Now We Can See" takes a step in a different direction.

"I feel like we did politics and religion for a while, but then we started making a point to get away from that, to not overdo it," Harris explains. "There's a lot of death on the new record, there's a lot of love. Kathy and I were discussing what we thought to be the classic themes of songwriting and music, and it's pretty much love and death or water and land, and therefore, that's really what we're into on the new record."

He adds, "I think we were starting to get tagged as a band that was obsessed with politics and religion and people were starting to think of us as a political band, which we're not at all. I think we would be hypocrites if we called ourselves a political band."

» Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW; with the Shaky Hands and Point Juncture WA, Wed., May 13, 8 p.m., $13; 202-667-4490. (U St.-Cardozo)

Written by Express contributor Katherine Silkaitis
Photo by Alicia J. Rose