The Thermals will return with Under Crushing Rain, their first new LP in ten years (pre-order). Today the band is excited to share the album’s lead single, “Spirit Collectors,” which is out now on all digital platforms for playlist shares.

On the song, the band’s Hutch Harris says, “Think about what makes you special. Think about what unique talents you possess. Think about your strengths and your skills, your life and your loves, your hopes and your dreams. Now think about the petty and decrepit ghouls who seek to strip you of all of these assets; the dark, depressed demons whose only goal is to waste your time and suck your soul. These are the Spirit Collectors! They are the evil fiends without arts of their own; lacking love and talent and with no drive to create life, their quest is only to steal from you everything for which you have worked so hard. SPIRIT COLLECTORS COME FOR YOU, every day. Don’t let them pull your teeth!”

Under Crushing Rain doesn’t pick up where the group’s 2016 swan song We Disappear left off; Rather, it returns to the band’s scrappy 2003 debut More Parts Per Million—if not in form, well at least in function. 

Here to explain, the group’s creator:

Allow me to re-introduce myself: My name is Hutch Harris, and twenty-four years ago I created the “band” The Thermals in the small house I rented in Southeast Portland, Oregon. I did this entirely alone! I wrote the music and the lyrics. I played every instrument on the first LP: guitar, bass, drums and vocals. I am not sure who knows this and who doesn’t. If you’re reading this, consider yourself informed! I recorded the band’s first LP—again, alone—on a 4 track cassette recorder. Once the record was completed, a live band was formed with other living members. Practices were held, contracts were signed, and the group spent the next fifteen or so years either on the road or in the studio. Ten years ago I decided it was enough for me! I broke up the band. Ten years later, I missed it.

I didn’t miss practicing (takes too long), and I didn’t miss touring (takes WAY too long and I don’t get to see my dog). What I did miss are the parts that I consider to be the true artistic elements of being in a band: Writing and recording—and I don’t need a band for that! Of course, I never stopped writing and recording these past ten years; I released no less than three solo LPs and a slew of singles. But I missed The Thermals. The noise, the nerves and the chaos that the band always embodied. The exuberance, the raw power, and the punctuality! The bottom line is I love The Thermals, and I love making Thermals records. Some of my solo work was a bit similar to a Thermals LP (primarily 2021’s SUCK UP ALL THE OXYGEN) but for the most part I strove to make records that were very un-Thermals-like. 

Ergo Under Crushing Rain. I set out to make an LP that was incredibly Thermals-like, in the same fashion in which I made More Parts Per Million: quickly, and by myself. Though not as no-fi as the first Thermals LP, it definitely has been made in the same spirit; It is fast, cheap, and totally in control. Produced in my own studio (Brainwash) and released on my own label (Static Catsup Aspic), I believe it is a fine addition to The Thermals’ catalog. For people asking—rightly so— “WHERE IS KATHY?” I kindly answer “SHE’S RIGHT HERE, sitting next to me working hard on the layout for the LP, as I write this.” Not only did I have Kathy’s blessing to make a Thermals LP, I had her help as well. 

Having dispensed with the gorgeous truth of the project, I only hope now that this record will be heard, enjoyed—even loved—based on its content, and not its backstory. I seriously loved making this record. I feel that these are some of the best songs I have ever written, and I am incredibly excited to share them with the world. Thank you for reading, and listening!