Spanish Prisoners are a NY-based group with an interesting history. Frontman and songwriter Leonid Maymind crafted the first album, Songs To Forget, and launched an impressive effort to thrust his new group into the forefront of the music scene last year. Against all odds, he saw some remarkable success, from touring with John Vanderslice to playing with Daniel Johnston, and more. Through this he performed solo and with various incarnations of his band, always on the lookout for the right collaborators to help things take off.

Now Maymind is back with a new band to work with in the studio and on stage, and a new free ep to show it off. Download the three excellent tracks of Los Angeles Guitar Dream over here. Fans of bands like Ladytron, Grandaddy, Radiohead, and Eels should definitely take notice.

For the band’s NYC fans, there will be a record release show this Saturday, April 25, at Crash Mansion (199 Bowery, Manhattan). Buy tickets for the show here. Download the free ep and you will receive a code word which you can bring to the show and get a drink ticket.

Always one of my favorite bands to see live, The Thermals seemed to be doing their bet to run themselves into the ground at the recent SXSW Festival in Austin, TX while promoting their upcoming full length, Now We Can See (April 7, Kill Rock Stars). Each record has refined their sound, transitioning from a chaotic fuzz-ridden cannonball of garage punk to a finely tuned no-frills pop juggernaut, The Thermals have only gotten better. Onstage it has become apparent that this isn’t a scrappy punk band, but a group in it for the long haul. Shifting the focus from the commanding tone of the last release (review and robot drawing) back to a much more direct, personal style, they reminds you that not that long ago this band sang “The Thermals go right to your head / The Thermals have sex in your bed.” Though the music may be a little slower (maybe we should call it patient, or mature) and the sound quality is a billion times improved over their earlier, noisier releases, Hutch Harris is still laying his feelings out for all to see in the simplest of terms – really, does it get much more honest than “I was afraid, counting the days, pacing the sky, holding every breath that I have left”?

Stream the entire new album, Now We Can See, at The Thermals’ Myspace page now.

Tour dates and MP3s after the jump!

The Thermals – “Now We Can See”
The Thermals – “When We Were Alive”

Thermals on tour:
April 09 | Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom (Release Party!) [get tickets]
April 10 | Salem, OR @ The Grand Theater [get tickets]
April 11 | Seattle, WA @ Neumos
April 21 | Salem, OR @ The Grand Theater
April 22 | Boise, ID @ Neurolux [get tickets]
April 23 | Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
April 24 | Denver, CO @ The Marquis Theater [get tickets]
April 25 | Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
April 26 | Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club [get tickets]
April 28 | Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon [get tickets]
April 29 | Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge [get tickets]
April 30 | Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig
May 01 | Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom [get tickets]
May 02 | Buffalo, NY @ Big Orbit’s Soundlab [get tickets]
May 03 | Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
May 05 | Northampton, MA @ Pearl Street
May 06 | Portland, ME @ SPACE Gallery [get tickets]
May 07 | Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East [get tickets]
May 08 | New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom [get tickets]
May 09 | New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom [get tickets]
May 12 | Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s [get tickets]
May 13 | Washington, DC @ Black Cat [get tickets]
May 14 | Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
May 15 | Charleston, SC @ The Pourhouse
May 18 | Birmingham, AL @ Bottle Tree
May 19 | Memphis, TN @ Hi Tone Cafe
May 20 | Little Rock, AR @ Revolution Music
May 21 | Dallas, TX @ The Loft
May 22 | Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
May 23 | San Antonio, TX @ The Warhol
May 26 | Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Room [get tickets]
May 27 | Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour [get tickets]
May 30 | San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill (21 +) [get tickets]
May 31 | San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill (all ages) [get tickets]

You can pre-order the album now.

The Thermals are on Twitter!