Tracklist:
1. It’s Trivia (2:13)
2. Brace and Break (2:13)
3. No Culture Icons (2:21)
4. Goddamn the Light (1:58)
5. Out of the Old and Thin (2:43)
6. I Know the Pattern (2:36)
7. Time to Lose (2:24)
8. My Little Machine (2:01)
9. Overgrown, Overblown! (1:44)
10. A Passing Feeling (1:59)
11. Back to Gray (2:14)
12. Born Dead (1:43)
13. An Endless Supply (1:36)
Album info
Enthusiasm and intelligence are the two advantages Sub Pop’s Thermals have over the lo-fi rocker hoi polloi.
The Portland, OR, group made up of ex-Hutch and Kathy, Kind of Like Spitting, and Operacycle, attack their simple songs on More Parts Per Million with verve like a Beat Happening hopped up on ephedrine and one too many Dr Peppers. The interest and eagerness are impressive, a welcome relief from the redundant cynicism that plagues and devours indie rock to this day.
Underneath the basic song structures, fast chords strummed with fury, is a musical mind, and a rabid wit lyricism that creates lasting songs, pop word nuggets to chew on long after the last track has played. At first listen, the music sounds hook free, fill free, all basics, like some one picking up their guitar for the first time and turning out an opus ala The Mountain Goats. Beneath and behind Ben Barnett’s tin guitar assault is a bass bounce, and snare drum exclamation that adds depth and dance-ability to their sound.
Hutch Harris wraps his high-pitched, you-either-love-it-or-hate-it voice, around words sung sincere with great thought put into them. On “Back To Grey” take for example “I don’t need any love/ because I’ve got the elements/Electric Light/Electric License.” The entire album is saturated with word play like this, clever without being cloying.
The album is maximum low-fidelity, with the emphasis on LO. If it’s true that Dave Davies put holes in his amp’s speaker to get the nasty sound on early Kink’s tracks, than maybe the Thermals put big holes in every speaker, their instruments, and the console, and ran over the tape a few times for good measure to get that authentic sludge sound.
More Parts Per Million is a great album and a great idea. My only fear is that this new sound may not last being stretched across several albums. It’s one time brilliance that may be tarnished by repetition.