King Tuff and Sheer Mag

In between playing in the uber-modest neo-hippie and freak folk band Feathers and J. Mascis’ stoner metal band Witch, Thomas released his debut album in 2006. Self-released on CD-R but distributed through Spirit of Orr records the release titled “Mind Blow” featured many typically lo-fi yet climatic songs that would be on his later releases.

In 2008 King Tuff released his full-length debut “Was Dead” through Tee Pee Records’ sister label The Colonel. Due to the limited release the album has become somewhat of a collectors item among some circles, the album re-release in 2013 through Burger Records saw the album reach No. 8 on the Billboard’s Heatseekers Chart. After the release Thomas toured with Hunx & his Punx and Witch, as well as releasing other material for his power-pop band Happy Birthday.

Thomas’ other projects left King Tuff gathering dust until 2011 when a split single with Hex Dispensers hit the shelves, and a year later in 2012 another single for Suicide Squeeze entitled “Wild Desire”. The singles paved the way for King Tuff’s self-titled album, which was released on the highly revered Sub Pop label on May 29, 2012, and reached No. 21 on Billboard Heatseeker Album chart. The album was produced by Bobby Harlow and showed a maturity and experimentation to his style.

In 2014 Thomas released his third full-length “Black Moon Spell” which became his most successful to date, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Heatseeker Album chart, pushed to the No. 1 spot on the CMJ College Radioplay chart and featured guest drummer Ty Segall.