The Thermals

The Thermals

The Thermals are an indie/alternative/post-pop-punk rock band from Portland, Oregon, USA. The group formed in the summer of 2002.

Their debut LP, More Parts Per Million, was conceived and recorded in the kitchenette of singer Hutch Harris's house, known as The Moss Motel, in southeast Portland, Oregon. The album was recorded on a 4-track cassette machine, with total tracking costs around $10. A demo of the record was passed from Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie, The Postal Service) to indie giant Sub Pop Records, who signed The Thermals after they had played just a handful of shows. MPPM was then mixed by Death Cab For Cutie's Chris Walla at The Hall Of Justice in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop released the record in March of 2003. A blistering slice of "no-fi", MPPM was rated everything from "un-listenable" to "very fucking listenable". The original live line-up of The Thermals consisted of Kathy Foster (who had collaborated with Harris on various musical projects for years prior) on bass, Jordan Hudson on drums, and Ben Barnett on guitar. Harris sang, flailed about, and occasionally stripped naked onstage. Barnett left the group after the first few tours for MPPM, Harris picked up a guitar, and The Thermals became what is commonly known as a power trio.

Harris, Foster and Hudson returned to Seattle in the early winter of 2004, to record their second album, Fuckin' A. They re-teamed with Chris Walla, who manned all recording and mixing duties this time around, at Seattle's famed Avast studio. With a sound more in the mid- to some-fi area, Fuckin' A achieved the main goal The Thermals had in mind while creating it, which was to receive a parental warning sticker. Released in July 2004, The Thermals toured the US and Europe relentlessly in support of Fuckin' A, before returning to Portland to record their unreleased, or "lost" LP with Joanna Bolme (The Jicks), at the original Jackpot Recording Studio. The album was tentatively titled We Sleep In A Holy Bed, and has yet to see the light of day. Harris and Foster split with Hudson soon after, in the fall of 2005. No less than three people would play drums for The Thermals over the next three years, including Caitlin Love, Lorin Coleman, and even Kathy Foster herself.

For their third record, The Body, The Blood, The Machine, Hutch Harris and Kathy Foster hired Brendan Canty of Fugazi to produce. Canty had recently recorded a Thermals song for his "Burn To Shine" series, in which indie bands perform at a house slated to be burned by the fire department. TBTBTM was recorded at Supernatural Sound in Oregon City, with Foster playing drums on all tracks, and splitting bass duties with Harris. The album (loosely) tells the story of a young couple who must flee a United States governed by fascist faux-Christians. TBTBTM was released in August of 2006, and subsequently featured in many Best-Of-2006 lists, including Pitchfork, Spin, NPR, and The Onion's A.V. Club. The Thermals toured for close to two years following TBTBTM's release, and were briefly a four-piece again (Harris, Foster, Coleman, and Joel Burrows on second guitar). This line-up dissolved in early 2008, and Hutch and Kathy set about making another record as a duo.

It's now April 2009, and The Thermals have just released their fourth and possibly best album to date, Now We Can See. After an amicable split with Sub Pop, the band has signed with the iconic Northwest label Kill Rock Stars, recently relocated to Portland, Oregon. Now We Can See was recorded by John Congleton (Explosions in the Sky, Polyphonic Spree) again at Supernatural, and at Congleton's studio Elmwood in Dallas, Texas. NWCS is full of the hi-fi power for which Congleton is famous, and continues The Thermals' tradition of raw punk energy combined with brilliant melodies and intelligent lyrics. Hutch and Kathy recorded NWCS the same way they did TBTBTM: as a duo, with Foster acting as a one-woman rhythm section for the entire record. Westin Glass joined The Thermals soon after the recording was completed, to become the fourth drummer for The Thermals, sixth if you count Harris and Foster. Please insert your own Spinal Tap joke here, thanks.

The Thermals are most famous for discovering a fourth chord in pop-punk. It's F#minor, in case you were wondering. The Thermals have also made many fine contributions to rock journalism, including the terms no-fi, some-fi, mid-fi, post-pop-punk, pre-post-punk, neo-grunge, post-power-pop, 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).

Discography

Studio albums

• More Parts per Million (2003)
• Fuckin A (2004)
• The Body, The Blood, The Machine (2006)
• Now We Can See (2009)

Singles and EPs

Year	Title	Label
2003	No Culture Icons	Sub Pop
2007	"A Pillar of Salt"	Sub Pop
2008	"Returning to the Fold"	Sub Pop
2009	"Now We Can See"	Kill Rock Stars

Live albums

Year	Title	Label
2007	Insound Tour Support 2.0	Insound
2008	LIVE at the Echoplex - December 7th, 2007	Kufala Recordings

Compilations

Year	Title	Label
2003	The Wonder of the Underground Pressed On Plastic, Vol. 1	Meow Meow
2004	Sub Pop: Patient Zero	Sub Pop
2006	To Elliott: From Portland	Expunged Records
2006	Terminal Sales Vol. 2: This Delicious	Sub Pop
2007	Bridging the Distance: a Portland, OR covers compilation	Arena Rock Recording Co.

Trivia

• The band turned down a $50,000 offer for the right to use their song "It's Trivia" (from More Parts Per Million) in a Hummer commercial. Harris commented on the decision in a February 2006 asap article: "We thought about it for about 15 seconds, maybe...it was a really easy decision. How could we go on after soundtracking Hummer? It's just so evil."
• Before forming The Thermals, Hutch Harris and Kathy Foster played together in the bands: Haelah, Urban Legends, and Hutch and Kathy. Kathy Foster also currently plays for the All Girl Summer Fun Band.
• Colin Meloy of the Decemberists and Charlie Salas-Humara of Panther have cameos in the video for "Pillar of Salt."
• "I Hold the Sound" appeared in NHL 2K7's 2K beats.
• "A Passing Feeling" appeared on MLB 2K7's 2K beats.
• "Pillar of Salt" is a demo track on Microsoft's Zune.
• The Thermals opened the last two Sleater-Kinney shows at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Oregon.
• The Thermals opened the last shows Guided By Voices performed in Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington.
• The band appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly as a musical guest.
• The Thermals toured briefly with Cursive in 2006.
• The band toured with U.K act The Cribs in 2007.
• "Here's your Future" featured in the second episode of the third season of the Showtime TV show Weeds in 2007. The song plays over the final moments and the end credits.
• "Here's your Future" is featured in the video game Saints Row 2.
• "Returning to the Fold" was featured in first episode of the second season of the NBC TV show Chuck.
• "Brace and Break" was used for Dustin Klein's part in the MASHSF video on fixed gear riding in San Francisco.

External links

• Official website
• Template:MySpace
• The Thermals at www.neformat.com.ua (bio,discography in russian language)
• The Thermals at the Sub Pop Records
• The Thermals on FreeIndie
• "A Pillar of Salt" artist commentary
• Unraveling the Thermals, a March 2003 article from Willamette Week

Interviews

• The Thermals Interview at Aural States
• 2007 The Thermals Interview at Bandega.com
• Interview: The Thermals Interview by Jason Crock at Pitchfork Media
• Interview explaining The Body, The Blood, The Machine from Oct. 2006 on Aversion
• The Politics of Punk: Interview with The Thermals with the Center for American Progress
• The Thermals' Kathy Foster Gets Lasso'd
• Soundcrank Podcast Hosted by The Thermals
• Why aren't "post-pop-punks" The Thermals hotter? Interview by Joshua Ostroff at AOL Music Canada
• The Thermals CC Interview