Over the course of seven years and four LP's, The Thermals have tackled religion, politics, and death with no small amount of passion and fervor. With their fifth LP, The Thermals have battled (and perhaps even conquered!) the deepest and darkest of all popular art themes- love. Not that The Thermalshaven't sung/spoken/screamed about the wide range of emotions love produces and abuses. But never before have The Thermals devoted an entire LP to love, loss, and lies! More than an album strictly about love, Personal Life is about relationships. It's about the concept of a connection between two people -making it, breaking it, and faking it. Personal Life amounts to the indie-rock equivalent of a brilliant but ultimately doomed love affair. A beautiful, turbulent experience that will hopefully leave you wiser in the ways of love and life.Personal Life is something of retro-technical achievement. Producer Chris Walla (Death Cab For Cutie, Tegan and Sara) recorded The Thermals the same way in which he produced their 2004 LP. The band was recorded live (for the most part) to tape, and the album was mixed to tape as well. The sonic care Walla gave to Personal Life assures an enjoyable listen for audiophiles (the vinyl was mastered straight from tape) as well as for the rest of us who don't care and will be listening on awful headphones and Radio Shack speakers.