Now We Can See finds the Thermals getting back to basics

By Amy Kaufman
Published: April 7th, 2009 | 4:00am

2007 signaled the end of an era for the Thermals. After completing their three-record SubPop contract with The Body, the Blood, the Machine and wrapping up touring at the end of the year with the departure of drummer Lorin Coleman (since replaced by Westin Glass), singer-songwriter Hutch Harris and bassist Kathy Foster decided to self-finance the recording of their next album. “We thought that it would be nice not to have anyone in mind, just focus on making the [next] record the way we wanted to make it,” Foster said from her home in Portland.

During February of 2008, as they had the previous year between touring, Harris and Foster took a two-week hiatus to focus on composing the tracks for the new album at a beach house on the Oregon coast. This time, the two were rooted in a more primitive style of composing, with both musicians compensating for three instruments. They laid a foundation of guitar and drums before passing back and forth a 4-track; Harris adding lyrics and Foster developing a bass line.

When it came time to lay down the tracks, both decided to move away from the crisp, punk-rock realm created by their third-album producer, Fugazi’s Brendan Canty, and into the more hi-fi, indie-pop haven of Modest Mouse producer and Paper Chase band member John Congleton. “We’re all around the same age and grew up listening to the same records. We all understood each other’s references,” Foster said of the artist-producer dynamic. “[We] always go to the studio with a lot of ideas. We know how we want it to sound, but then we’re all open to working with the producer …. He didn’t have any sort of ego about being the producer; he was really open to our ideas.”

Congleton, whose main emphasis was on a beefy rhythm section, provided an array of sounds for Harris and Foster to choose from in the mixing process. He amplified all of the instruments both up close and 10-feet away, the three adjusting the dynamics individually from song to song. “We had all these room sounds to play with, so some of them he wanted to sound more roomy, and we liked it. Other ones we didn’t like so much, so we’d reign in the room sound,” Foster explained.

After wrapping up the album’s tracks, the duo put the word out that they were looking for a new label. The most aggressive offer in this pursuit came from the Portland relocated, predominately female-run label Kill Rock Stars. From their desire to promote the new album — since titled Now We Can See — for the first half of the year as the only album they’d be promoting to an album-to-album contract instead of the package deal they once had, it became evident that this was the perfect match for the band. “Plus, it’s just awesome to work with so many really smart women,” Foster added.

Now We Can See sorts through the familiar territory of The Body, the Blood, the Machine, but retraces man’s steps after the post-apocalyptic world painted on their 2006 album. The melodies have blithe, optimistic, indie-rock tones, and the themes are broad with innumerable parallels. Punctual overtones are brought to light through the lyrics, which speak clearly to man’s hubris.

Not so surprisingly, the themes on the album also somewhat mirror the Thermal's rebirth as a new band. “A lot of these songs are written from the perspective of someone who has died and is looking back on humanity and their own life and seeing all their mistakes. Now we can see all these mistakes we’ve been making and realize all these things,” Foster explained, but just as promptly finds herself musing, “but then what are we gonna do about it?”

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