Personal Life - The Thermals
Personal Life Image
Metascore
72 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 27 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.4 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5 Ratings

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  • Summary: Portland's indie-punk trio's fifth album is full of fist-pumping rock anthems about relationships and regret.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 27
  3. Negative: 0 out of 27
  1. Paste Magazine
    82
    It's a sea change, in terms of the band's sound; their previous albums' hyper-political, sturm und drang punk fury is almost entirely gone, replaced by easygoing power-pop more akin to fellow Pacific Northwesterners Built to Spill. And this pump-the-brakes approach to songwriting yields some of their strongest, most emotionally resonant work yet.
  2. The Guardian
    Dec 22, 2010
    80
    The Thermals continue to give three chords and the (difficult) truth a good name.
  3. Kerrang!
    Jan 31, 2011
    80
    Occasionally this album is just as you might expect, raucous and raw, but elsewhere it is the work of people who seem unafraid to sound afraid. A gem. [6 Nov 2010, p.52]
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  4. Drowned In Sound
    Dec 22, 2010
    60
    The Thermals are in transition, sitting awkwardly between their lo-fi roots and a clear desire to do something grander. They seem stuck at a point where their skeleton is no longer fit for purpose.

See all 27 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. conschobhar
    9
    Saw the Thermals live when 'the body the blood and the machine' came out... bought the album. Saw them when 'now we can see came out'... bought the album. Just saw them live tonight... the songs off this album were particularly awesome. My god I love this band, but I think this is their best yet.… Collapse
  2. Yaki
    8
    Personal Life is my introduction to The Thermals. It's an instantly engaging collection of post punk chunks and effortlessly carries a charismatic yet inwardly focused quality reminiscent of bands like Interpol and Mountain Goats. I'm excited by the discovery and the knowledge that this is the bands fifth full-length release, finds me eagerly seeking it's predecessors.… Expand
  3. Sheazy
    7
    'Personal Life' is a change of pace for the Thermals and is to be distinguished from their previous works. Where the group achieved greatness on 'the Body, the Blood, the Machine' where high energy adrenaline pumping riffs and vocal hooks, the tunes on 'Personal Life' are slowed down and more mellowed out. Much of the result is enjoyable pop punk, but some tracks truly leave something to be desired. It seems to me that the group is trying to develop a new and more complex sound, and whilst i appreciate this ambition, the jury is still out on whether they have the requisite skills to repeat the kind of success they have had with past albums.

    For more see http://playlist-sheazy.blogspot.com/    … Expand

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