What a difference a day makes. The other night at Mercury Lounge I was in a packed room, kind of tired, and watching a band try extremely hard to get an audience energized and into what they were doing. And it didn't really work at all.
Last night I was in the exact same scenario, except that the band didn't have to ask or prod nearly as much to get the entire crowd worked up into a frenzy as a result of their absolute awesomeness. And that band was the Thermals. This band simply rocked out, with no pretense, jamming through song after song (they must have played at LEAST 20 of them, Jed has a setlist) until there was a mosh pit going full force and even my tired self couldn't resist jumping up and down in sheer enthusiasm.
Singer Hutch Harris also has one of the most unique and awesome voices I've heard in a while. Even if all of their songs sound the same, the crowd last night never tired of any of it. Maybe it helped that they were also prefaced by the hilariously weird Fred Armison (yes of SNL). I sort of wished the whole time that he would come out as Prince, but his other caricatures (including rock and roll Sadaam Hussein with a british accent... strange I know) were really funny. Overall, a great show!
Thermals - How We Know
Thermals - God and Country
