Nothing like the constant gloom of Portland, Oregon, and the prospect of life as a manicured folk act to transform a couple of mild-mannered indie rockers into slobbering, punk-thrashing freaks. At least that's what happened to the Thermals' Hutch Harris and Kathy Foster. After a year of tweaking their precious acoustic debut (2002's Hutch and Kathy), they went back to the basement, plugged in, and trimmed the songs down to two minutes. The result: instant audio therapy. Last year's More Parts Per Million "probably cost between $10 and $15," says Harris. "And people were bragging about the White Stripes record only costing $4,000!"

The Thermals' second album, the exuberant Fuckin A (produced by Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla), sounds almost as gritty as its predecessor, but the fizzy new tunes have more snap and pop. Goofy roller coasters like "Let Your Earth Quake, Baby" sound like the Ramones guest-starring on an episode of Teletubbies.

"People tell us our music makes them feel like they're in high school again," says Foster. "It's the same in Europe," adds Harris, "but they're much more serious about it. In Germany, they made us play every song we had and they still said the show was too short. We did a Misfits cover and then had to hide behind the DJ booth because the crowd wasn't satisfied!"