The Thermals - Fuckin A

Ah, The Thermals. I will admit, I wasn’t into their last record, More Parts Per Million. As much as I wanted to be, I just couldn’t get past the “intentional” low-fi sound and dirty recording. I mean it is one thing for an album to sound old or un-produced, but when it starts to sound messy, it is too much of a distraction from the music for me. With that experience behind me, I approached the Thermals new album Fuckin A with a good bit of hesitation. However, this time around the band has cleaned up their sound just enough to make the quality of their songs really shine through. Now don’t get me wrong, Fuckin A is certainly not a pop-record, and you won’t find any super slick production anywhere on the disc. What you do get is twelve great Thermals songs in which the production is clean enough to actually enjoy the songs with ease. The Thermals specialize in the quick, full-on rock assault, and they waste no time burning through the twelve tracks with the total disc time coming in under 30 minutes. The best way to get a feel for the band’s sound is to find an audio clip from the record. Not unlike the Ramones or any other punk or rock band with quick, aggressive songs, one of the few downfalls to the Thermals sound is that it all kinda sounds the same until you really start to get into the music. For that reason, once you hear one song, you will know what to expect with the rest of Fuckin A. With an album this short, I always find myself listening to it over and over on repeat, each time catching a little something else that makes me smile. With Fuckin A The Thermals have taken a huge step in the right direction and proven that they are an incredibly talented band. After a few more listens, it might even impress me enough to go back and give More Parts Per Million another try. [www.thethermals.com]