Thursday - Common Existence

  by Adrian Huggins

published: 3 / 3 / 2009

---

New Jersey natives Thursday return with their much anticipated album ‘Common Existence’. The band have been around for ten years now and were one of the bands that led the modern emo/Screamo scene in 2001 and 2002. Along with bands like Thrice, Finch and Glassjaw, Thursday lead the way playing emotionally driven and honest songs. While they have never really matched the success of their major debut, ‘Full Collapse’, they sound on their new album, 'Common Existence', like a band with a new lease of life. This record has a bigger sound than all their previous outings. Some of their other records never quite seemed to capture the rawness of their live performances, but they have really hit the mark this time and it has all the elements that make this band still so important to so many. Singer Geoff Rickley’s vocals on 'Common Existnce' are slightly more controlled and, therefore, much stronger than they have been in the past. Opening track ‘Resuscitation of a Dead Man’ crashes in with a huge drum role. It is instantly recognizable as classic Thursday, but is the music of a band who have beefed up their sound. The really excellent thing is that they keep this up for most of the album. ‘As He Climbed the Dark Mountain' see Thursday at full throttle. The driving guitar is very much in the classic Thrice style and is backed with some fine drum work which continues to shine throughout the album. As the song progresses the melodies also come through and give it the mature edge that they have always excelled at. ‘Friends in the Armed Forces’, a bold statement about the stupidity of war and the consequences it has on others, has a superb tune that could very easily appeal right across the board. ‘Unintended Long Term Effects’ features some of the most intense guitar playing on the entire album. One of the other stand out tracks is ‘Circuits of Fever’, which has a fantastically creepy and haunting intro that looms deep beneath the entire song and gives it a subtle yet brutal sound. This to me is the band's best album to date. I would imagine that this will catapult Thursday from one of the bands that have always been on the edge of bigger things into the top league. It kicks the hell out of so many other bands currently playing emo music. Whereas some of their old peers have calmed down, Thursday have all the passion they started out and also have really grown as a band.

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

Label Links:-

http://epitaph.com/
https://www.facebook.com/epitaphrecords
http://epitaphrecords.tumblr.com/
http://www.kingsroadmerch.com/epitaph-records/region/
https://twitter.com/epitaphrecords
https://www.youtube.com/epitaph

Post A Comment

---

Comment

Name

your name

Location

ie London, UK

Submit

Check box to submit

Adam Coxon
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson

Dixie Ernill
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart

Malcolm Carter
Marie Hazelwood
Mark Rowland
Nick Dent-Robinson
Nicky Crewe
Nige Nudds
Philamonjaro
Richard Lewis
Shirley Procter
Spencer Robertshaw
Steev Burgess
Steve Kinrade

Steve Miles
Tommy Gunnarsson
Zena Grieg