If the indie rock world was more like the celebrity gossip circuit, then all the headlines from SXSW would be proclaiming in big bold type that this is the year that the Thermals make their come back. Come back from what? Well, that’s not the important part. After a fairly long period of silence and three years since their last full-length the Thermals are ready to kick into overdrive in 2009 in support of their new album Now We Can See, out this April on Kill Rock Stars.

First up on the band’s checklist was to knock down a few great performances at SXSW. The first of their shows I attended (the second being their Hot Freaks!/Insound appearance Friday) was fantastic. I arrived just a song into their set, but the crowd was already so dense that I couldn’t get but a few feet into the room. But even from thirty feet away, I could still tell that the Thermals are likely the next in the line of Against Me! and Ted Leo. The Thermals’ lead singer Hutch Harris was clearly enjoying himself, and there’s no quicker way to give the audience a good time than by having one yourself.