Thermals, The

Thermals, The

Under Crushing Rain

Static Catsup Aspic

***A blare of guitars, a thump of drums, a trebly, wobbly voice kick off “Good Morning Fellow Scavengers,” the first song on the first Thermals album in 10 years and the first since More Parts Per Million to be home-recorded and produced. We have become accustomed to the big bands of our youth—and even middle age—returning on much smaller labels and self-directed platforms. Still going from Sub Pop, Kill Rock Stars and Saddle Creek back to home-taping is an extreme example. You wouldn’t do this if you didn’t love the game. And indeed, Hutch Harris sounds almost giddy as he plots his return. “Good morning fellow scavengers, it’s back to work today/We’re not far from where we started and it’s too soon to decay,” he declares in this opening salvo, and indeed, some of the early days’ enthusiasm bubbles up in Under Crushing Rain.Let’s be clear, this latest missive is not as vertiginously daring as More Parts Per Million or as joyfully corrosive as Fucking A. But “I Have Had Enough Blood” erupts with ebullient “oh-ee-oh”s and “hey-oh”s, a staple of the Thermals’ sound since the early aughts. “Angel Eyes Are Always Watching” rattles and clangs and drops Catholic imagery as the Thermals have been doing since The Body, the Blood, the Machine. Harris sounds lighter and less constrained than he has in ages.It’s all him, this time, which means that Kathy Foster is not on hand for rambunctious bass play or vocal counterparts. She will not be pogo-ing up...

Thermals, The

Now We Can See

The Thermals Records

***REISSUED!!! "The Thermals were an indie / alternative / post-pop-punk rock band from Portland, Oregon, USA. The group formed in the summer of 2002 and disbanded in spring of 2018. Now We Can See, The Thermals’ fourth release, is finally back on vinyl LP after being out of print for many years. Originally released on the uber-iconic Pacific Northwest record label Kill Rock Stars, the album is again available in all of its mid-fi glory, courtesy of The Thermals themselves. Now We Can See was recorded by John Congleton (St. Vincent, Angel Olsen) at Portland’s famous Supernatural Studios, and mixed at Congleton's infamous Elmwood Studio in Dallas, Texas. The record is full of the hi-fi power for which Congleton is famous, and displays The Thermals' tradition of raw punk energy combined with brilliant melodies and intelligent lyrics, with a renewed focus on life, death and water. Thermals founders Hutch Harris and Kathy Foster recorded Now We Can See the same way they created their 2006 masterpiece The Body, The Blood, The Machine: as a duo, with Harris providing guitar and lead vocals, and Foster acting as a one-woman rhythm section (bass and drums) for the entire record."