By Jodi Root

When Hutch Harris sang, “I only felt sane when I was afraid” he proved he must be one crazy ass dude—because confidence was nothing but over the top at last night’s Thermals’ set in Chicago. The insanity was evident with the Portland based trio’s off the hook performance, which rocked the always incredibly crisp sounds of downtown’s Bottom Lounge.

Harris and crew rocked a 75-minute set, showcasing a blend of older catalog and newer tracks from the recently released Now We Can See. The 19-song performance was followed by a 2-song encore—and the crowd seemed to eat up the positive vibes being tossed out by bassist Kathy Foster, Harris, and recently added Say Hi former drummer Westin Glass.

Pure power pop rock at its best–Harris was right when he said I hadn’t seen anything after I commented to him in our 5 Questions feature, that I had caught their day set at SXSW. No longer fatigued from the beating sun courtyard or nursing a hangover from the night before (or maybe that was just me), the trio was damned right on top of their game this time—electrified times ten in a comparison to the last set I caught (yet, still thoroughly had enjoyed).

Harris and Foster were gracious, thanking Chicago on multiple occasions for coming out and being so great—and we thanked them right back—with crowd clap-alongs, warm bursts of applause and loud cheers/whistles of approval only added to the soundtrack of the evening, amidst a sea of bobbing heads and an abundance of flailing arms.

Material from the new record included the aforementioned “When I Was Afraid,” the upbeat “I Let it Go,” super melodic “I Called Out Your Name,” the ever catchy “We Were Sick,” one of my personal faves, “You Dissolve,” and of course, the crowd sing-along pop gem/title track, “Now We Can See.” I’ll admit my familiarity with The Thermals’ back catalog is pretty minimal—but from what any casual attendee could see is that loyal fans were more than satisfied with the older numbers that were busted out. A few older songs I did pick up on included “How We Know,” “Back to Gray,” “Test Pattern” and “St. Rosa & the Swallows.” I did recognize a few tracks from their SXSW set again, (titles unbeknownst to me), and am definitely motivated to get caught up on my long overdue Thermals homework. My personal highlight of the evening, however, was the first encore track, a cover of Nirvana’s “Sappy.”

It was a night of pure indie pop pleasure—solid jams and tight ass hooks. I def recommend checking this trio the next chance you get. If only all the shows I checked threw out this much positive energy—not just any band can get me to groove to unfamiliar material the way the Thermals did last night. It was so incredibly inclusive, and most importantly, FUN, that you would have to be crazy to not get down—or I guess in this case, sane.

Buy: The Thermals – Now We Can See
++
Myspace: The Thermals
MP3: The Thermals – “Now We Can See”