So Here's Your Future
April 22, 2018 8:26 PM Subscribe
The Thermals have officially disbanded. Every album put out by The Thermals was a haven for punks and partiers, parents and kids, and outcasts of all stripes. Their albums were stuffed to the edges with intellectual rumination, melodies packed around bass lines, and a newfound sense of a life lived. (analogue.io) After 15 years on the scene, Portland, Oregon indie rockers The Thermals are packing it in. (consequence of sound)
The Portland trio called it quits this week, but for many, they leave behind a fiery legacy that can’t be put out. (flood magazine)
more parts per million (youtube)
The Blood, The Body, the Machine (youtube)
Spotify link
more parts per million (youtube)
The Blood, The Body, the Machine (youtube)
Spotify link
Saw them play the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor years ago. Fun show, they brought a ton of energy. This would've been circa 2009, when Now We Can See came out (they were touring in support of that album). Sad to see them go.
posted by axiom at 9:37 PM on April 22, 2018
posted by axiom at 9:37 PM on April 22, 2018
Aw bummer, I've liked them for a long time but I never got to see them. "Test Pattern" meant quite a lot to me once upon a time.
We'll see 'em in 20.
.
posted by rhizome at 10:07 PM on April 22, 2018
We'll see 'em in 20.
.
posted by rhizome at 10:07 PM on April 22, 2018
Here is a totally true fact about Parasite Unseen for those of you who are collect those:
It once occurred to me that I had stayed in a dangerously dysfunctional relationship for way, way longer than I should have because of my then-girlfriend's physical resemblance to Kathy Foster. I had been contemplating why I kept mentally categorizing someone as cool when all available evidence indicated that we were wildly wrong for one another, and it suddenly struck me that it was because she looked like someone that I respected and admired.
To this day Pillar of Salt is on my wake-up and get excited play list.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 10:47 PM on April 22, 2018
It once occurred to me that I had stayed in a dangerously dysfunctional relationship for way, way longer than I should have because of my then-girlfriend's physical resemblance to Kathy Foster. I had been contemplating why I kept mentally categorizing someone as cool when all available evidence indicated that we were wildly wrong for one another, and it suddenly struck me that it was because she looked like someone that I respected and admired.
To this day Pillar of Salt is on my wake-up and get excited play list.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 10:47 PM on April 22, 2018
God, I love The Thermals. Seen 'em live twice; both fun, high-energy shows. Once when they came through here (had tickets for a second one, but the damn city flooded) and once in the rain under the Space Needle with a mosh pit, which is pretty well exactly the right place to see them; they always had an unpretentious, progressive Pacific Northwest sense to them.
I think the consensus is right, that their standout album is The Body The Blood The Machine, which is a concept album based on a theocratic dystopian future. Every track on that album is killer; the single A Pillar of Salt is a microcosm of the anxiety and terror (We've built too many walls / and now we've got to run / a giant fist is out to crush us) and is not a bad video to boot. This album was with me through a tough time, and it's theme of struggle really kept me going. Two more personal faves are Here's Your Future (album / live) and Returning To The Fold.
The Noisey farewell calls them "the most reliable band in indie rock", which I think is a really good description. Hutch is quoted as saying that he wanted consistency like the Ramones or AC/DC where the band sticks to a lane, and I think they did a pretty good job of that. On the more melodic, poppier side of things, Now We Can See has one of their best choruses, while I Don't Believe You has their best video, featuring a pre-Portlandia Carrie Brownstein.
On the harder side, I love Our Trip - the opener to their second album, Fuckin A (that album name holds out a certain promise that the band totally delivered on; there are not a ton of albums you could call Fuckin A). I also have to tip my hat to the early, recorded on three tracks of a four track recorder (why bother with a fourth) single-slash-mission statement No Culture Icons. Another standout track in my books is Born to Kill - warning, there is violent imagery in the lyrics and video.
This is a good and well recorded live set; they had a really great unpretentious energy. I never got the sense that they were trying to be anything more than a solid rock and roll band, and they really were. I'm going to miss them.
And in a just world, they'd all be incredibly rich after their single Canada was used up here for a major brand beer commercial; it's just propulsive and catchy and sounds patriotic and is actually stupid ("I want to take you to a place / I know a place that's called Canada") and I can't imagine it as anything other than a Molson or Labatt ad. (IIRC, they wrote it during the sound check in Toronto the night after a really shitty gig in Buffalo.)
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 11:18 PM on April 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
I think the consensus is right, that their standout album is The Body The Blood The Machine, which is a concept album based on a theocratic dystopian future. Every track on that album is killer; the single A Pillar of Salt is a microcosm of the anxiety and terror (We've built too many walls / and now we've got to run / a giant fist is out to crush us) and is not a bad video to boot. This album was with me through a tough time, and it's theme of struggle really kept me going. Two more personal faves are Here's Your Future (album / live) and Returning To The Fold.
The Noisey farewell calls them "the most reliable band in indie rock", which I think is a really good description. Hutch is quoted as saying that he wanted consistency like the Ramones or AC/DC where the band sticks to a lane, and I think they did a pretty good job of that. On the more melodic, poppier side of things, Now We Can See has one of their best choruses, while I Don't Believe You has their best video, featuring a pre-Portlandia Carrie Brownstein.
On the harder side, I love Our Trip - the opener to their second album, Fuckin A (that album name holds out a certain promise that the band totally delivered on; there are not a ton of albums you could call Fuckin A). I also have to tip my hat to the early, recorded on three tracks of a four track recorder (why bother with a fourth) single-slash-mission statement No Culture Icons. Another standout track in my books is Born to Kill - warning, there is violent imagery in the lyrics and video.
This is a good and well recorded live set; they had a really great unpretentious energy. I never got the sense that they were trying to be anything more than a solid rock and roll band, and they really were. I'm going to miss them.
And in a just world, they'd all be incredibly rich after their single Canada was used up here for a major brand beer commercial; it's just propulsive and catchy and sounds patriotic and is actually stupid ("I want to take you to a place / I know a place that's called Canada") and I can't imagine it as anything other than a Molson or Labatt ad. (IIRC, they wrote it during the sound check in Toronto the night after a really shitty gig in Buffalo.)
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 11:18 PM on April 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
My mom and Kathy's mom were bridge partners for years.
posted by humboldt32 at 1:12 AM on April 23, 2018
posted by humboldt32 at 1:12 AM on April 23, 2018
Sad times. I discovered The Thermals with Now We Can See, and I've been a fan ever since. At least I can look forward to the members new work going forward - like Kathy Foster's new project mentioned in the Noisey article: Roseblood.
posted by SonInLawOfSam at 7:05 AM on April 23, 2018
posted by SonInLawOfSam at 7:05 AM on April 23, 2018
The Body, The Blood, The Machine is seriously one of those landmark albums. I was far too old when it came out to call it life-changing, but it was easy to imagine the tens of thousands of kids around the world for whom it would change their lives. As soon as I heard it, I went back and immediately bought their old records (these were the last actual CDs I ever purchased) and shared them with my band mates. They were all good but The Body The Blood is the standout. Easily in the top 10 albums of the new millennium.
My oldest child had just been born when it came out, and as a new parent redefining who I was and rejecting the way my parents raised me, these lines from Pillar of Salt resonated for me:
I carry my baby
I carry my baby
Her eyes can barely see
Her mouth can barely breathe
I can see she's afraid
She could see the danger
We don't want to die or apologize
For our dirty God, our dirty bodies
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 7:38 AM on April 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
My oldest child had just been born when it came out, and as a new parent redefining who I was and rejecting the way my parents raised me, these lines from Pillar of Salt resonated for me:
I carry my baby
I carry my baby
Her eyes can barely see
Her mouth can barely breathe
I can see she's afraid
She could see the danger
We don't want to die or apologize
For our dirty God, our dirty bodies
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 7:38 AM on April 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
Bummer. The Body the Blood the Machine has so many great memories wrapped up in it. At one point it was the only CD in my car. It got played on repeat all throughout late summer, fall of 2006.
Have a very specific memory of deciding to drive out to the country after a show. We had the car full of people on a wide variety of substances. We found field and just ran around, jumping off hay bales and smoking while looking at the stars. Kept the radio on with that album playing over and over again. Good times!
None of the old venues were still open the last time I passed through my old college town. This is one more confirmation that I'm officially old or at least in danger of becoming old one day.
posted by Telf at 7:44 AM on April 23, 2018
Have a very specific memory of deciding to drive out to the country after a show. We had the car full of people on a wide variety of substances. We found field and just ran around, jumping off hay bales and smoking while looking at the stars. Kept the radio on with that album playing over and over again. Good times!
None of the old venues were still open the last time I passed through my old college town. This is one more confirmation that I'm officially old or at least in danger of becoming old one day.
posted by Telf at 7:44 AM on April 23, 2018
More Parts per Million is one of my all-time favorite albums. There's so much energy and urgency packed into those 30 minutes. I was lucky enough to see them touring for that album and it was one of the best show's I've ever seen. I haven't listened to them much recently, but it sounds like it time to put them back into the rotation.
posted by jessssse at 10:59 AM on April 23, 2018
posted by jessssse at 10:59 AM on April 23, 2018
Hutch is hilarious on Twitter.
I sold Kathy a guitar amp a few years ago through Craigslist. Didn't know who she was, had to google.
Same thing happened with Dave Allen a few years earlier before at a freelancer cocktail party. "Your'e in a band too? Gang of Four? Huh."
posted by gottabefunky at 11:31 AM on April 23, 2018
I sold Kathy a guitar amp a few years ago through Craigslist. Didn't know who she was, had to google.
Same thing happened with Dave Allen a few years earlier before at a freelancer cocktail party. "Your'e in a band too? Gang of Four? Huh."
posted by gottabefunky at 11:31 AM on April 23, 2018
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I've always loved their sound, and all of their albums.
posted by umber vowel at 9:01 PM on April 22, 2018