live photos by Leia Jospe

DOWNLOAD: The Thermals - Now We Can See (MP3)

The Thermals (and their tour-mates The Shaky Hands) have added a Monday, May 11th Music Hall of Williamsburg show to their existing tour plans. Tickets for that show go on AmEx presale at noon, and general sale Friday, April 17th at noon.

The show will be the band's third in NYC this May. Tickets for the Friday, May 8th and Saturday, May 9th Bowery Ballroom shows are still on sale.

Point Juncture, WA opens all Thermals/Shaky Hands shows from April 22 through May 16th, NYC dates included.

The Thermals' new album, Now We Can See, is out now on Kill Rock Stars.

The new video for "Now We Can See", a set of pictures from Mess With Texas at SXSW, and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "The Thermals add a 3rd NYC show - dates, pics, video, stuff"

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* Bob Mould @ Joe's Pub
* Pedro Soler @ Sycamore
* Chris Cornell @ Webster Hall
* Eddie Izzard @ Bleeker St Theatre
* Kreator, Exodus, Belphegor, Warbringer & Epicurean @ Nokia Theatre
* Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers, EGM, My Education, Coin Under Tongue @ DBA
* Scorpio Rising, Leftcoast, Matamoros, Freetime @ Glasslands Gallery

Eddie Izzard is playing a last-minute show at the small-for-him Bleeker St Theatre. The show sold out instantly, but tickets will be available at the box office.

Bleeker St Theatre is home to Mike Birbiglia's great, and now Lortel-nominated, Sleepwalk With Me show (running through June 7th). Mike's "Awkward 10 Minutes" guest this Friday, April 10th, is Rue McClanahan of the Golden Girls!

The new Thermals video, below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday? (Passover)"

by Black Bubblegum

Amebix, in a rare moment of calm? (more by Justina Villanueva)

Chaos in Tejas 2009 is on and poppin', having laid out May 21st-24th in Austin for a crust/punk/hardcore field day(s)... dig on the sick FINALIZED lineup that includes punk favorites like Amebix, Cock Sparrer, and Cro-Mags, as well as Eyehategod, The Thermals, Harvey Milk, Annihilation Time, Outlaw Order, Crude, Severed Head of State, Warcry, Ponytail, Trash Talk... the killer list goes on:

Continue reading "Chaos in Tejas is coming to Austin (no, not SXSW) ++++++++++ Mind Eraser & Sex Vid coming to NYC"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down - Bag of Hammers (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down - Beat (MP3)

Thao @ Mercury Lounge 6/4/08 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

Kill Rock Stars' Thao with The Get Down Stay Down will play SXSW before heading out on a monthlong US tour with Sister Suvi and Samantha Crain. The dates include the previously mentioned NYC stop at Bowery Ballroom on Thursday, May 14th. Tickets are still on sale.

Down at SXSW, Thao with The Get Down Stay Down's appearances include the previously mentioned Kill Rock Stars day party (3/18) with Marnie Stern and The Thermals; NPR day party (3/19) with Dirty Projectors and Blitzen Trapper; Hotel Cafe SXSW Showcase (3/19); and KUT SXSW Showcase (3/20). Thao w/ TGDSD will also play the Brooklyn Vegan SXSW day party at Radio Room on Thursday, March 19 (her third show that day) (full line-up to come).

The Thermals are also playing the Rachael Ray SXSW day party (plus 7 other SXSW shows), then touring w/ two NYC dates.

Sister Suvi, who will be touring with Thao post-SXSW, is traveling first with Takka Takka - both visit the Cake Shop on Sunday, March 15 before heading south to Austin.

As an aside, Merrill Garbus, one of the members of Sister Suvi, is Tune Yards, who played MHOW w/ Beiruit and Inlets on 2/4. Tune Yards also released its debut, BiRdBrAiNs, as a for-donations download.

In 2008, Thao with The Get Down Stay Down played a ton of NYC gigs, including a headlining Mercury Lounge show (2/4), two nights opening for Rilo Kiley at Terminal 5 (2/2 & 2/3), and a solo appearance at the Revenge of the Book Eaters benefit on October 7th. And 2008 also saw Thao's debut We Brave Bee Stings and All on Kill Rock Stars.

All Thao Nguyen with The Get Down Stay Down and Sister Suvi tour dates below...

Continue reading "Thao with The Get Down Stay Down - 2009 Tour Dates w/ Sister Suvi, SXSW & stuff"

Semi Precious Weapons & Rachael Ray @ Santos in NYC (Nicky Digital) (thx Krista)

As posted earlier today, Franz Nicolay & Major General will be opening for the Pogues at Roseland Ballroom on March 13th, but that is just one of many shows the Hold Steady's moustached member has coming up. Another one is tonight, March 5th...

3/5 FRANZ NICOLAY @ Small Beast Salon
Guest-hosting & curating.
THIS WEEK: 8:15-8:45 Franz Nicolay
8:55-9:25 Yoni Gordon
9:30-10:05 Serena Jost
10:15-11 Jennifer O'Connor
@ The Delancey - 168 Delancey, NYC

At SXSW, Franz is playing one solo/Major General show, and The Hold Steady are playing two. The first HS show is Friday March 20th at Mohawk. That's a public, official SXSW appearance. The second is the next day at Maggie May's for the Tom Jones-and-Semi-Precious Weapons-loving Rachael Ray. And they're not the only ones playing her party. As previously mentioned, The Airborne Toxic Event will be there, and so will New York Dolls, Ra Ra Riot and The Thermals. You can see the whole lineup and more details on the Dunkin Donuts spokesperson's website. The picture above was taken at Rachael's NYC show at Santos last week. See more like it at Nicky Digital's site.

NY Dolls also have an official SXSW show, and Sylvain Sylvain is sitting on a SXSW panel called "The Sound and the Fury". This all in addition to a new record coming out...

After working together on the New York Dolls' influential debut in 1973, the group reunited this winter with producer Todd Rundgren to record their fourth studio album, Cause I Sez So, set for a May 5 release on Atco Records.

Recorded at Utopia Sound Studio in Kauai, Hawaii, the album features 11 original compositions and a new version of "Trash," which was on their 1973 debut album. "It was amazing working with Todd again, and I think we were able to evoke the special sound of our first album and drag it by the hair into the present," says frontman Johansen.

Prior to the album's release, the New York Dolls-David Johansen (vocals); Sylvain Sylvain (guitar); Steve Conte (guitar); Brian Delaney (drums); and Sami Yaffa (bass)-will appear at the South By Southwest (SXSW) music conference and festival in Austin, TX. [as outlined above]

The NY Times went to RR's SXSW show last year. Video below...

Continue reading "Franz Nicolay, Rachael Ray, NY Dolls, Thermals, NYC, SXSW "

DOWNLOAD: The Thermals - Now We Can See (MP3)

The Thermals @ the Bell House in January (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

The bad news (for me at least) is that The Thermals aren't playing any of the TBA BrooklynVegan shows at SXSW this year. The good news is they will be there and playing eight others! Maybe not as many as the Mae Shi in 2008, but they will definitely be busy between March 18th and March 21st while in Austin, Texas.

More good news... The Thermals are going on tour with their Kill Rock Stars labelmates The Shakey Hands in April. That includes two nights in a row at Bowery Ballroom - May 8th & 9th. And there is a new 7":

"Now We Can See" is the first single from The Thermals' upcoming CD/LP, Now We Can See, their fourth full-length album, and first for Kill Rock Stars. The "Now We Can See" single also includes the song "My World", plus demo versions of both songs, making side A ("Now We Can See"/"My World") the "hi-fi side", and side B ("Now We Can See (demo)"/"My World (demo)" the "lo-fi (or "no-fi", if yr nasty) side".

This 7" is limited edition AND If you order from Kill Rock Stars directly it will be on the uber limited white vinyl!

Continue reading "The Thermals - 2009 Tour Dates w/ Shaky Hands, new MP3"

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Pretty & Nice, now with a new drummer, opened for the Thermals at the sold-out, late-late show at The Bell House in Brooklyn Saturday night (1/31). It really was late too. Joseph Arthur's set at the early show ran long. I got there a little before midnight thinking I had already missed Pretty & Nice, but instead I found a line to get in down the block with a club employee handing out cookies to everyone who was now forced to wait in the cold. P&N went on around 12:30. Thermals probably went on around 1:30. It was well worth the wait.

Kathy (bass and occasional vocals) and Hutch (guitars and vocals), also with a new drummer, tore through old and new material and two covers (Nirvana's Sappy and Saints by the Breeders). The band and the sound system sounded tight. Everyone (well, a lot of people) was bouncing up and down and politely bumping into each other to the indie/post/punk/rock music. There were also a few slower jams, and at least one Obama shoutout. Now I really can't wait to hear the new album - Now We Can See is out via Kill Rock Stars on April 7, 2009 (which is around the time Hutch said the band would be back in NYC).

As someone told me at the show, The Thermals last played NYC exactly, to the day, one year earlier (Jan 31, 2008 at Studio B). More pictures and both setlists (from Jan 31, 2009) below...

Continue reading "The Thermals & Pretty & Nice @ the Bell House - pics, setlist"

Pretty & Nice @ Pianos for BV CMJ (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

Tucked away in a basement somewhere on the outskirts of Boston, there is a secret lair filled with motley recording equipment, and a neatly organized cache of guitars, synths and other flashing electronics. The stockpile of gadgetry is owned and operated by three young gentlemen who call themselves Pretty & Nice.

Continue reading "Pretty & Nice - w/ Thermals tonight & other 2009 Tour Dates"

That 2nd Thievery Corporation show at Terminal 5 (Feb 26) is now on presale (password=thieveryretaliation).

Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra are playing two shows at Southpaw in Brooklyn this month. Tickets are on sale for January 30th and 31st.

Busta Rhymes is playing BB King's on March 10th. Tickets are on sale.

Tickets are still on sale for the Ida Maria show happening at Mercury Lounge. Union Hall is sold out.

Tickets are on sale for the Thermals show at The Bell House. The access code is "SALTY", but I'm not sure it's necessary or does anything.

Telepathe are opening for M83 at Irving Plaza. Tickets are still on sale.

Tickets are still on sale for both Cat Power shows happening at the Apollo.

Tickets are on sale for the Frightened Rabbit show happening at Le Poisson Rouge.

Tickets are on sale for the Lady Sovereign show happening at Pianos.

Comedian Marc Maron is performing at Union Hall in Brooklyn on January 15th. Tickets are on sale.

Tickets are still on sale for the John Doe & Exene of X show happening at MHOW on Saturday. One day later they also play Joe's Pub.

Tickets are still on sale for the Great Lake Swimmers and A Hawk & A Hacksaw show happening at Mercury Lounge on Saturday.

Brooklyn Qawwali Party was added to GlobalFEST. Femi Kuti was taken away. It's this Sunday at Webster Hall and tickets are still on sale.

Note that ALL the NYC-area Morrissey shows are going on sale at 11AM on Friday (not noon).

Have you listened to Jaydiohead yet?

Radiohead think Max Silvestri is funny... his Internet Thing anyway. Video below...

Continue reading "the Thermals, Antibalas, Busta Rhymes, Thievery Corporation, Marc Maron, other tickets & stuff"

"...So much else is new and wonderful for us! We have a new record label, Kill Rock Stars. Not only has Kill Rock Stars released some of Portland's (and the Northwest's) best punk and indie records to date (Elliott Smith, Sleater-Kinney, The Gossip), but the label has recently relocated to Portland, and is quickly filling it's roster with even more great Portland bands (Shaky Hands, Panther, Horse Feathers). The Thermals are thrilled to now be a part of this family as well. We were thrilled to be part of the Sub Pop family for six years, but we felt it was time to move on. We turned down a second contract from Sub Pop, lest you think we were dropped! You don't drop us, we drop you. Not you, personally. We love you! Seriously, you're the best.

We have a new drummer as well. Westin Glass, formerly of Seattle's Say Hi, joins us (Kathy Foster and Hutch Harris) to complete the third (or so) live line-up of The Thermals. In addition to (again!) touring the UK with The Cribs this February, and playing multiple shows at SXSW in March, we will be touring the U.S. for two months, following the release of Now We Can See on April 7th. We'll be doing festivals in Europe and the U.S. all summer long, followed by a full European tour in the fall... - The Thermals

Speaking ot the Bell House, tickets are also still on sale for the Great Lake Swimmers show happening there on January 9th, plus The Mugs are playing there on January 17th and The Forms are playing there on January 18th.

All Thermals dates below...

Continue reading "The Thermals - 2009 Tour Dates (Brooklyn, Europe, SXSW)"

By Andrew Frisicano

The Thermals @ Fontana's (more)

NJ's Titus Andronicus recently signed with XL, who will release the band's future TBA recordings. First, XL will re-release The Airing of Grievances (previously on Troubleman Unlimited) on January 20th.

Titus goes on a 2009 tour with Los Campesinos! that includes two February shows at Bowery Ballroom (tickets), but first Titus will headline their own show at Maxwell's in their own state (on January 14th). Tickets are also on sale.

In other signings news, Kill Rock Stars announced that it will release the next Thermals record, titled Now We Can See, on April 7, 2009. KRS also reports, "a 7" of the first single, "When I Died," will precede the album on March 10th followed by a trip to SXSW."

The announcement ends The Thermals' five-year, three-album Sub Pop run. The Seattle label also recently lost Sweden's Loney Dear (a.k.a Emil Svanängen) - who has two Dec NYC dates - to Polyvinyl.

All tour dates below...

Continue reading "The Thermals, Titus Andronicus, new labels & shows"

DOWNLOAD: The Thermals - Pillar of Salt (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Troggs - Wild Thing (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Built To Spill - Big Dipper (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Nouvelle Vague - Ever Fallen In Love (MP3)

The Thermals have announced what songs (their own included) they'll be playing at Studio B on January 31st....

Continue reading "The Thermals' karaoke playlist (for Studio B)"

NY Magazine's next hip music event will be just like the one they did at Studio B with Of Montreal, except instead of Of Montreal, the backing band will be the Thermals. Flyer below...

Continue reading "The Thermals are doing Karaoke @ Studio B"

The Thermals recently shot a new video with fans in Portland....

Billed to begin at 2 pm, those on the set (in this case, “set” denotes an alley way off Burnside) didn’t hit their stride until around 3 pm. Up until then the afternoon consisted of sitting on tables and waiting for things to begin.

Soon the band were behind their instruments with director Whitey and a handful of crew filming them perform. It was all very DIY. The crew did take after take of singer/guitarist Hutch Harris singing the same lines, using a CD—the stereo balanced on an overturned shopping cart—to cue each take. [more pics & stuff @ Local Cut]

The Thermals are going out on tour again in October, and they'll play Brooklyn for the third time this year on November 1st - at Warsaw w/ Reporter. Tickets go on sale Saturday. All tour dates below....

Continue reading "The Thermals - fall 2007 Tour Dates"

Bao was also on hand at McCarren Pool on Sunday (Aug 12, 2007), and he shot these photos of the Thermals...

Continue reading "The Thermals played McCarren Pool & Maxwell's"

you'd never know this MP3 was the Thermals...

DOWNLOAD: The Thermals cover Elliott Smith (MP3) (info)

This picture is not of The Thermals, Ted Leo, or a vegetarian, bit it is a sexy picture of Les Savy Fav's Tim Harrington dressed as something a vegetarian wouldn't eat at the ATP festival in the UK last weekend that The Thermals (and Grizzly Bear and Daniel Johnston) also played....

The Thermals have a few more shows popping up. Tickets are on sale for a July 27th show in Chicago, and one on August 10th at Maxwell's in NJ. That last one is two days before they play a much larger free show at McCarren Pool in Brooklyn with Ted Leo who may or may not be this year's sexiest vegetarian. Ted Leo was also recently seen looking sexy on MTV (and getting sexed up by the crowd at Webster Hall).

The Thermals recently played NYU with the Hold Steady who are also playing a big free show this summer in Brooklyn.

DOWNLOAD: Ben Gibbard (Cash Money) covering the Thermals (MP3) (MORE)

A couple of weeks ago I went to see The Thermals rock NYU....

JellyNYC has released this initial list of artists playing free shows at McCarren Pool in Brooklyn this summer:

Blonde Redhead, Ted Leo/Rx , The Thermals, Ghostland Obervatory, Octopus Project, Man Man, Illinois, I'm From Barcelona, Dengue Fever, and THE RUB DJs

Also note: Despite the Saturday date that was announced, I'm From Barcelona are actually playing that Sunday.

Previously
* Ghostland Observatory played Bowery Ballroom
* Ted Leo & Blonde Redhead played Webster Hall
* MAN MAN vegan dinner w/ ISA CHANDRA & NY Magazine
* I'm From Barcelona - 2007 Tour Dates (McCarren Pool)
* Sonic Youth playing Daydream Nation @ McCarren Pool