The Severed Cortex

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Body-Blood-Machine-Thermals/dp/B000G1TOTG/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-1514635-5264950?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1173543468&sr=8-1

Damn. I sure do love me some power pop music. I think it's because that type of music has guitar hooks that I can figure out and play. This release has plenty of them. If I sat down for thirty minutes I could probably figure out every song, especially since it seems they overuse the E-B-C#m-Abm-F#-E chord progression.

Lest you think I'd gone over the deep end with my recent spate of introspective Christian leaning albums, this one will show you I'm still a fan of the most heathen amongst us. I mean, come on, the album cover has a blindfolded Jesus on it. The Thermals, at this point, are really just the brains of Hutch Harris and Kathy Foster. On this release Hutch and Kathy switch up instruments on all the songs, which to me is pretty unique. They combine to deliver an absolutely scathing critique of Christianity and the negative impact of it on ourselves and our American culture. I guess you can't really call this a protest album or a concept album, but it's what passes for both in the new millennium.

Overall this is a good CD, but I wouldn't really classify it as overwhelmingly great CD. It's certainly smart and loud and hooky, but it does get a bit tiresome being hit over the head with the lyrics so much. Maybe if the lyrics were a bit more subtle I'd think it was as smart as the Shins, but probably not. I guess I shouldn't complain. At least there is some piss and vinegar still being bandied about by bands like The Thermals even if punk rock is dead.