THE THERMALS

Ok, it’s bold statement time: pop punk NEVER commands respect. There, we said it. But seriously, nobody ever looks to Mark Hoppus with the same sense of awe and reverence as they do, say, Robert Pollard or Lou Reed. The Thermals, in a sense, are a mould shattering band. Taking the simple energy of glam rock and tongue- in-cheek lo-fi sound of mid 90s American college radio, they’ve been actively pushing their own highly influential brand of pop garage punk for over a decade now, and have turned the heads of more than a few “serious” music fans along the way. Desperate Ground is not a turning point for The Thermals. In fact, if it were we’d be disappointed. The Thermals chug through brilliant pop at a mile a minute and tracks like You Will be Free sound like instant classics, almost as if you’ve heard it all before – a familiarity which never gets boring. Long live the old sound!

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Words: Billy Black