They may not be Grizzly Bear or Animal Collective, but the Thermals have slowly made quite a compelling case for 2009 to be their year. They had a fantastic album come out after a long quiet period, they toured non-stop and they’ve done it all better than most bands could ever dream. Their show at Monolith was the fourth time I’ve seen them this year and my excitement during the show was still as high as it was the first time.

Now, I gotta say that the best Thermals show I saw all year still belongs to their Pitchfork performances — hey, they covered Green Day and Nirvana while I sat and watched them from the shade — but their Monolith performance might be a close second. It was naturally heavy on stuff from their great new record Now We Can See with a few older songs sprinkled in. Most bands are lucky to have a song or two that will absolutely slay live, but the Thermals have two aces in their pocket at all times: “Now We Can See,” with its addictive sing-along chorus, and “Here’s Your Future,” a song so strong that it give a peek into what you might have felt at a punk club in 1978. And the craziest thing is that those songs are just barely better than the rest of the ones in their set. The Thermals are seriously a great live act. Do all you can to see them.

More photos after the break.