The Portland-based indie/pop/punk band The Thermals will play tonight at downtown’s Club Congress. The power trio, which has had many line-ups and incarnations since forming in 2002, is on tour supporting their new album Now We Can See. After touring through September in various cities across the Western United States, the group takes their post-punk sound to the UK and Europe.

The Northwest trio is currently made up of original members Kathy Foster, Hutch Harris, and new drummer Westin Glass. The group recently the switch from Seattle’s Sub Pop Records, who had first signed the group in 2003, to Portland-based label Kill Rock Stars (famous for artists such as Sleater-Kinney and Elliott Smith).

Lead singer Hutch Harris has described the new album as “”songs from when we were alive.”” That same kind of off-kilter fun is clear in their music and their performances.

In the band’s storied history, they have had six different drummers, including bassist Kathy Foster and lead singer Hutch Harris. The two recorded their latest album as a duo, and added Glass to the group just after recording was complete.

They describe their sound as lo-fi post-punk and have been compared to early Nirvana, the Pixies, Foundation of Wayne, The Strokes, and Nirvana. The new album in particular is stripped-down and straightforward, lighthearted and worth a listen.

On their Web site, The Thermals claim to have invented such music journalism terms as no-fi, some-fi, mid-fi, post-pop-punk, pre-post-punk, neo-grunge, and post-power-pop. The professional but still quirky and fun site also says the group coined such iconic acronyms as i.d.w.t.d.i.m. (i don’t want to do it myself) and s.e.d.i.f.y.(somebody else does it for you).

The show starts at 8 p.m. at 311 E. Congress. Tickets at $10 in advance and $12 at the door.