Quadstock XXII: The Thermals

Portland's favorite punks, The Thermals, will officially be bringing their incisive tunes to the 22nd rendition of Quadstock. Riding the wave from their newly released, Chris Walla produced album "Personal Life" and returning from an extensive and successful European tour, The Thermals will be stopping in at our very own university before heading off to Sasquatch.

The Thermals are no strangers to Catholic school. Hutch Harris, the group's lead vocalist and guitarist, as well as Kathy Foster, bassist and vocalist, both grew up going to Catholic school. Their collective experience was the inspiration for the group's breakout album, "The Body, The Blood, The Machine." The band has described the premise of the album as "the story of a young couple who must flee a United States governed by fascist faux-Christians."

One might imagine that a band that made a name for itself of an album full of scathing songs about the fallacy of modern Christianity might be nervous to come back to Catholic school, but according to Foster, the group isn't nervous at all.

"It'll be interesting, but I'm not worried," Foster said. "We'll definitely be playing songs of that album, we'll be doing a solid mix of old stuff with the new stuff. It should be a really good time."

Despite the lyrical content, even nuns and priests would probably find The Thermals' tunes catchy. Built using Harris' trademarked "three chords" approach to songwriting, The Thermals' songs are aggressive, upbeat, and marked with a sense of urgency and energy that will play well at this year's Quadstock.

The Thermals new album, "Personal Life," was released last year and features more of the band's core sound, crafted into even tighter poppy nuggets that will get you pumping your fist. "The new album is about relationships and dealing with the darker moments of that," Foster said of the new album, which is less political than their previous outings.

The band cemented their extreme Portland-ness when they released the video for the album's single "I Don't Believe You," which featured the supreme acting skills of Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney and Portlandia fame, as well as Isaac Brock from Modest Mouse.