Pop Punk (Fuzzed Out American Northwest Division)

Okay, okay, maybe the Thermals don’t have enough production sheen to be called pop. (Their first record, More Parts Per Million, is alleged to have been recorded in a bedroom in Oregon. And when you hear the song available here [see also for “comedy” about the band’s origins], you’ll think it was made on one of those tape recorders with the big buttons and the single hole microphone that you used to use to trade taped messages with your sisters.) And the singer, Hutch, doesn’t have the nasal tone that for god knows what reason became the required mode of singing for bubblepunk bands who’ve attained the top 40 since Green Day’s heyday. His voice is still nasal, just in a different fashion, one that’s appealing, kind of like the Mountain Goats. And the band descended from a folk duo (Kathy & Hutch).

This tune from their new album Fuckin A (yeah, yeah, not a pop title, since it won’t be stocked in Wal-Mart) was strong enough to inspire me to purchase the long-player:

Thermals – How We Know

This song makes no sense, and I even checked the lyrics that came in the CD booklet, mainly to figure out what “the trick lighting and the trick olives!” meant. (It’s actually “trick lighting and trick eyelids” which really clears things up.) According to iTunes, it’s my most beloved song, at least by number of spins (25).

If you never thought about spinning the Clash’s “1-2 Crush On You” into a recording career, then you aren’t a member of The Exploding Hearts, or rather you weren’t a member. They no longer exist as such, since three of their four members were killed after they crashed their van, shortly after signing a major-label contract. These two songs are from their only album, the aptly-named Guitar Romantic on the aptly-named Dirtnap Records.

One rocker and one ballad for your listening pleasure, featuring drug use, a trebly mix, and two of the stranger infidelities recorded in song.

The Exploding Hearts – Modern Kicks
The Exploding Hearts – Jailbird