Just about 10 years ago, Thursday, along with bands like At The Drive-In and Glassjaw, helped create a second coming of the post-hardcore scene. This is something I can never forgive them for. You see, while Thursday is arguably one of the most influential and talented of that crop of post-hardcore bands, they are also one of the bands that made it OK for millions of bad screamo bands to follow in their wake.
Setting that bias aside, it becomes also plain to see what sets Thursday apart their weak progeny - their ability to continually evolve and explore sound, and simply not settle into a fast riff accompanied by the overwhelming pairing of incomprehensible screams and heartfelt emo lyrics.
This evolution has played out on each of the band's releases so far. In fact, 2006's A City by the Light Divided presented such a complex experimental departure from what the scene thought they wanted from Thursday that the record was received with accolades or condemnation, with hardly anything from the middle ground.
Their latest release, Common Existence, continues this evolution of post-hardcore, combining powerful, yet complex music, with vocals that are rarely, if ever, buried by screaming.
If I had to sum up Common Existence with one word, it would be "big." Starting with the opener "Resuscitation of a Dead Man," which features Tim McIlrath of Rise Against, the band employs big heavy-hitting guitar lines and urgent vocals that set the tone for the entire album. Over and over again, the band blasts you with two barrels of driving guitar noise, not holding back and not taking any prisoners.
And while those noisier aspects are the foundations of this record, it's most effective moments happen when it departs from them, like on "Beyond The Visible Spectrum," where strings and driving drum beats are consistently allowed to rise, only to be driven away again and again by blasts of guitar-fueled noise and frantic, sincere vocals. "Unintended Long Term Effects" and "Circuits of Fever" are two more tracks that exemplify the musical ability and complexity of Thursday. Rather than come out swinging, the music is layered perfectly upon itself, ebbing and surging at precisely the appropriate moments, urging listeners to internal responses that border on the spiritual.
"Love has Lead Us Astray" is another gem on the album, a delicate tune that is once again precisely orchestrated with rolling melodies, complex drumbeats, soft vocals and the ever-present sense of urgency.
The album closes with a track as powerful as its opener. "You Were The Cancer" is a track the opens with an ominous rolling maelstrom of intentionally underdone sound, which is then layered upon by complex melodies, blasts of noise, and the rarely achieved perfectly placed screamed vocals.
By the end of Common Existence, there's nothing to do but revel in what Thursday has accomplished over the years, enjoy it, and start the disc over. Hopefully, this album isn't a destination, but is rather one more leg of Thursday's journey; a record showing that the band is continuing to explore sounds, gain complexities and separate themselves from their imitators. If so, it may almost redeem them in my eyes for making a place for all of the bad screamo bands running around that the kids seem to like so damn much.
Track listing:
1. Resuscitation of a Dead Man
2. Last Call
3. As He Climbed The Dark Mountain
4. Friends In the Armed Forces
5. Beyond the Visible Spectrum
6. Time's Arrow
7. Unintended Long Term Effects
8. Circuits of Fever
9. Subway Funeral
10. Love Has Led Us Astray
11. You Were The Cancer
Release Date – February 17, 2009
