Let’s say this summer wasn’t chock full o’ sun-soaked releases and the upcoming Capitol Hill Block Party weekend wasn’t supposed to get up to 98 degrees. If the rest of July into August was one continuous seven day work week and there was no chance of getting a day off to go see the half-hundred bands playing on Friday and Saturday— If all these hypothetical situations were a reality, Now We Can See, The Thermals’ fourth full length album, and first Kill Rock Stars release, that came out in March could carry you through it.

It offers a slice of dystopian summertime that morphs into sun-flare filled bike rides or a yell-along from a rooftop, throwing voices and cares out towards the Olympics, and creates a contented resignation to all summer being good summer. You can immediately clap along with the chant on “We Were Sick” and bop wildly to the Vaseline-esque guitar on “When We Were Alive” without fearing looking like a jerk. You cannot lose this beat, and I’m willing to bet it will stick with you, even, if not especially, on more subdued tracks like “At the Bottom of the Sea.”

So come clapping, bopping, and rocking to Block Party because the weekend is almost going to be too hot and sunny, you can ditch work, tickets to Block Party are still available and— The Thermals are playing the main stage on Saturday at 7:30! That’s only 3 days away!

The main entrance of Block Party has moved to 12th and Pike.

(Photo: Laura Musselman)