'Canada' was released as a single earlier in the year and it indeed sucks balls. That's why it wasn't included on the new album.
I have listened to every album enough to get a good feel other than
More Parts Per Million which I've probably only listened through like once (I've heard 'No Culture Icons' on youtube), and would have to rank them thusly:
The Body, The Blood, The Machine >
Personal Life >
Fuckin A >
Now We Can See
Their first few albums have that rough, ambitious and full of potential kind of sound, reminiscent of other early pop punk bands like Green Day or blink 182 from before
Dookie and
Dude Ranch, respectively. They have a few awesome songs but the production limits the song writing's potential.
The Body is their
Dookie, definitely the best thing they have done--the crossroads of just enough production and fuzz to showcase their best song writing.
Now We Can See for me was like trying to make another
The Body but taking all the fuzz and fury out of the sound. I like the first half but it ultimately falls flat. It's my least favorite for that reason although it's close with
Fuckin A; I just prefer the fuzzy to the well produced because that's who I am.
I think on
Personal Life they realized they can't keep making the same preachy, noisy music at the same level they used to so they truly reinvented themselves. The songs are much more introspective and there is way more focus on riffs and letting each instrument cut through on its own rather than one big, noisy, jumbled mess like you expect from a band like them. The song writing is a little improved but mostly I just like that I can pick out the riffs. 'I Don't Believe You' is a throwback Thermals track but 'Power Lies' is the new Thermals, and I like it.
I hope that is an adequate response, sidewinder...
