I think The Thermals put it best when they said, “Yeah, everything Thermals!” In my personal list of lyrics about The Thermals, it is in the Top 3. Thing is, life hasn’t been “everything Thermals” in some time. The Portland-based pop-punk trio haven’t put out any records since 2010’s Personal Life (TMT Review). For people who love The Thermals (note: I am one of these people), this is far too long to go without a new record.
As you might have expected from that lead-in, there’s going to be a new Thermals record in 2013. Sound the trumpets! The new record is called… something. The band hasn’t given the record a name yet. But it will come out through… someone. If there’s a label attached to the record at the moment, The Thermals aren’t telling. Their last two records came out through Kill Rock Stars, so that’s not a terrible guess. Anyway, the nameless, label-less record is coming out… sometime. Okay, so there’s not a release date either, but the band is aiming for spring 2013.
While the usual basics aren’t yet available for this record, there is some other information available. The album was recorded with John Agnello (producer behind Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, Kurt Vile, and many others) at Water Music in Hoboken, New Jersey. Mixing was completed on October 28, mere hours before Hurricane Sandy hit. The band describes the record as a cross between their two best-loved records, More Parts Per Million and The Body, The Blood, The Machine. While this description is exciting, I am perturbed that most Thermals records do not recognize Now We Can See as the best Thermals record. You other Thermals fans need to get it together.
No dates have been announced for the band, though they do plan on playing many dates at SXSW in March. If we’re in the business of speculating, expect The Thermals to play Red 7, The Mohawk, The Parish, Emo’s, a taco truck on East Sixth Street, Beauty Ballroom, Wendy’s, a dog park, my living room, and, somehow, a casino in Louisiana. That is a lot of (speculative) SXSW dates!
• The Thermals: http://www.thethermals.com
[Photo: Thomas Oliver]
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