If you’ve been listening to The Thermals’ earlier work, you have probably noticed the striking Nirvana-esque grunge influence on their music (i.e. “How We Know”). Following that train of thought: The Body, The Blood, The Machine is a striking mix of In Utero and Nevermind. Not wholly pop, The Thermals wrap obvious religious and political themes around their grunge instrumentals—thus hinting at the depth found within In Utero. Throughout the album, The Thermals consistently bring up religion in an arguably sarcastic, albeit honestly lost tone. In “Returning to the Fold,” for example, Hutch Harris sings of blistering doubt and discontent, but finishes with “But I still have faith / If I ever had faith / Wait for me / Wait for me.” Furthermore, in “Pillar of Salt,” Harris shouts “That’s why we’re escaping / So we won’t have to die, we won’t have to deny / Our dirty God, dirty bodies.” The need and desire for escape is an overbearing theme of the album. The majority of the songs mention escaping, and even the liner notes declare “ATTENTION ESCAPISTS!!!” Yet, past all this religious and political questioning and satire is the damnably catchy Thermals. “Here’s Your Future” and “Pillar of Salt” are the two strongest pop tracks off the record. Both clock in at just about 2 minutes, 30 seconds, and contain the delicious grunge instrumentals. Quick and dirty melodies wrap themselves around Harris’ unique voice in a way that gets you moving, despite and even in spite of the harsh religious satire held within the lyrics. This healthy mix of depth and pop melds that of In Utero and Nevermind, but in a way that’s more detached from grunge than any of their previous albums. The Thermals have carved a new road for themselves, and it will be very interesting to see where it takes them.

(Published at MusicEmissions.com)

Boy do I hope you like Sonic Youth. If you don’t, turn around and march away from Shiloe this instant, because this music ain’t for you. Unless you’d like to test the infamous underground waters, in which case Shiloe is probably the best alternative to the godfathers of indie themselves. Shiloe’s Please Remove Your Teeth From My Neck is their sophomore EP release, gearing up hopefully for a full-length LP sometime in 2007…because six songs just leave the listener drooling for more. The namesake track opens the release, and right away the influences from Sonic Youth (and a touch of Radiohead and Joy Division). Easy-going instrumental fuzz backs Thurston Moore-styled vocals, but Shiloe comes off much more pop-friendly than the experimental rockers. The farther the listener ventures into the EP, the farther Shiloe depart from the Youth and into Pixie-land. “Tremors” is a bottled-up brew of dark emotion topped with vocals that again adopt many of the same styles as Pixie singer Black Francis. Shiloe channels underground rock right out of the early ‘90s and delivers it – reshaped and remade for a new era – right to your ears. Get on this band so you can join me in begging for an LP.

(Published at MusicEmissions.com)