Portland punks the Thermals are set to release their third full-length, The Body, The Blood, The Machine August 22 on Sub Pop. This album, the follow-up to 2004's excellent Fuckin A, finds Hutch Harris and Kathy Foster down a drummer (Jordan Hudson left the group late last year) and recording as a duo with producer Brendan Canty of Fugazi. Though the band have recently added drummer Caitlin Love to their lineup, during the making of The Body the twosome had to juggle a lot of instruments to lay down the tracks themselves. Bassist Foster played most of the drum parts, making her a one-woman rhythm section, and frontman Harris played guitar, sang and shared keyboard duty with his bandmate. Picking up where political tracks like Fuckin A's "God And Country" left off, The Body "envision[s] a United States governed by a fascist Christian state, and focus[es] on the need (and means) to escape," according to a recent press release. The band promise extensive touring behind the record, though no dates have yet been released.

Tracklist For The Body, The Blood, The Machine:

01. Here's Your Future
02. I Might Need You To Kill
03. An Ear For Baby
04. A Pillar Of Salt
05. Returning To The Fold
06. Test Pattern
07. St Rosa And The Swallows
08. Back To The Sea
09. Power Doesn't Run On Nothing
10. I Hold The Sound


www.thethermals.com
www.subpop.com