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Willis Thompson and Thao Nguyen met in a re-enactment in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. We found Adam Thompson one summer at a Richmond delicatessen, gingerly slicing. We got in a van together and stopped every night in different places. We got out, played music (often for real live people) and then got back in and rambled to the next town.
We recorded one album, drove around and flew to and fro, and then we recorded another. Both albums document the musical collaboration of many friends and colleagues and the efforts of one Thao to understand human interaction at all, ever.
When the band is on tour we stop at rivers and skip stones competitively. On days off, Adam bakes bread and prepares dinner while Willis builds percussive instruments using only bottle caps and intuition, and Thao awkwardly lifts the one 10-pound weight she has brought along to stay in shape for shows. Everyone watches the Food Network and the Discovery Channel together for dessert. The three of us share many hopes; most center around getting co-starring roles in a Mentos commercial and sleeping in separate beds while traveling.
We are very grateful for our musical lots in life and will always try our best to act accordingly. We thank you, very sincerely, for your ears, and your time, and your penchant for showing up and dancing.
The Thermals have recently released their fourth and possibly best album to date, Now We Can See. After an amicable split with Sub Pop, the band has signed with the iconic Northwest label Kill Rock Stars, recently relocated to Portland, Oregon. Now We Can See was recorded by John Congleton (Explosions in the Sky, Polyphonic Spree) again at Supernatural, and at Congleton's studio Elmwood in Dallas, Texas. NWCS is full of the hi-fi power for which Congleton is famous, and continues The Thermals' tradition of raw punk energy combined with brilliant melodies and intelligent lyrics. Hutch and Kathy recorded NWCS the same way they did TBTBTM: as a duo, with Foster acting as a one-woman rhythm section for the entire record. Westin Glass joined The Thermals soon after the recording was completed, to become the fourth drummer for The Thermals, sixth if you count Harris and Foster. Please insert your own Spinal Tap joke here, thanks.
The Thermals are most famous for discovering a fourth chord in pop-punk. It's F#minor, in case you were wondering. The Thermals have also made many fine contributions to rock journalism, including the terms no-fi, some-fi, mid-fi, post-pop-punk, pre-post-punk, neo-grunge, post-power-pop, i.d.w.t.d.i.m. (i don't want to do it myself) and s.e.d.i.f.y.(somebody else does it for you). 
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