Band Profile #1 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.
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).
