Song of the Day (A-Z): The Thermals – No Culture Icons

Day 14 (N). This writer first heard The Thermals, and this song in particular on the excellent Sub Pop Sampler CD, Infecting The Galaxy One Planet At A Time (pictured). Released in 2003, it was an excellent collection of amazing indie music at the time & I wore out my copy from overplay (as a result of writing this post, I have ordered a new copy. I shall write a retrospective review of it when it arrives. For nostalgia’s sake).

No Culture Icons is a fiery blast of DIY, lo-fi Indie Punk which, in hindsight, should have been massive at a time when bands like The Strokes & The White Stripes were experiencing large scale commercial success. The rawness of the production may have been all that excluded No Culture Icons, and it’s parent album More Parts Per Million, from greater success.

The Thermals did go on to experience moderate success. Their third album, The Body, The Blood, The Machine (a scathing George W Bush-era protest album telling “the story of a young couple who must flee a United States governed by fascist faux-Christians.”), produced by Fugazi’s Brendan Canty, went on to enjoy cult success. Pitchfork placed it at number 186 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.

Hardly art
Hardly starving
Hardly art
Hardly garbage

More coloured liquid
No scent, no skin
More stained paper
More parts per million
No new deafness
No self reference
No cults and
No new stands

No one ideal
Know what I feel
No two the same
Know two with the
Same name

More coloured liquid
No scent, no skin
More stained paper
More parts per million
No new deafness
No self reference
No getting psyched on
No culture icons

No one ideal
No what I feel
No two the same
Know two with the same name
Eyes so deep
You’d never see through
I can’t fucking stop
Thinking about you