The Retrospective

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New Jersey artist Thursday share a “Common Existence”

January 26th, 2009 by

Thursday Band Promo Photo

Thursday’s 5th studio album, “Common Existence”, has nailed setting a tone of urgency, and excitement almost down to a science. Everything about this record resonates exponential growth. Their years of touring and countless influences has culminated into what I dare say is the group’s finest effort to date.

I’ve crossed paths with the band form time to time and learned a great deal of what drives them. Does the band understand the level of scrutiny they receive from publications like Spin and Rolling Stones, but also from admiring fans and other artist? Yes, they do. There are countless “Thursday inspired us” bands I’ve run into. This includes both fledglings garage acts and bands currently touring as major label darlings. But Thursday themselves have pushed themselves as artists and ventured into areas where no one could have imagined. Full Collapse is the group’s top selling album to date, and has always been a topic of discussion.

Common Existence explodes with its opening, “Resuscitation of a Dead Man” which begs the listener to understand that something has gone terrible awry. Cries of help hit you dead in your chest, “Ambulance! Let me in, don’t make me stay here! Ambulance hold your breath! We’re running short on air!” From that point on, it becomes evident that this is not the Thursday I would sing along to in my car as a teenager. Geoff’s classic lyrics [often inspired by post-modern poetry] are still there, but what’s really captivating is his voice. He has taken his vocals to places that were formerly uncharted territory in earlier albums. Instrumentally, the sounds that the band produces on this record are so refined and mature that I think it’s safe to say that Thursday couldn’t have written this record 10 years ago even if they’d tried. They’ve changed playing styles and recording processes to deliver this behemoth of crashing sound. Guitars are like machine guns firing off with precision aim, while the percussion stirs a call to arms. Tracks like “Last Call,” “Beyond the Visible Spectrum,” and “Love Has Led Us Astray” showcase the turmoil that this band can evoke when they sit down to write an album that should be listened to from start to finish.

ThursdayResusitation of a Dead Man
[audio:deadman.mp3]

Thursday emerged on the scene in 2000, which predates what is almost the standard of online music DIY distribution systems. I mention this because like any sub genre of music,; it went from relative obscurity to being branded and shilled into something that could be reproduced with a mass market appeal. I presume that you’re all relatively familiar with genre monikers like “emo,” “screamo,” “post punk,” and so on? Well, Thursday was at that forefront when marketers were trying to figure out how to describe their genre of music. I learned about Thursday because a friend had given me a CD (ha! this no longer happens in my life – which is pretty sad) with tracks she downloaded from Napster, which at the time was the go-to P2P network for my social circle. If it hadn’t been for the internet, I wouldn’t have learned the finer intricacies of kids who grew up to bands like Ink and Dagger, Quicksand, Mogwai, and many others. It allowed me to take part in a culture that was completely devoid from my suburban upbringing in an affluent New England town. The internet did to music what MTV did for it years ago: the hyper-connectedness and community-fostering let kids far and wide take part in movements that would be otherwise inaccessible to them. Artists like Thursday, have spent countless hours nurturing this community that allows them to do what they love, while bravely navigating the treacherous grounds that the music industry has placed before them.

Thursday is a post-hardcore band from New Brunswick, New Jersey that has released four full-length albums. The band’s most recent release, a split with Japanese screamo act Envy, is out now on Temporary Residence Limited. According to the band’s myspace, they signed with Epitaph Records. Their next full-length album, Common Existence, is scheduled for release on February 17, 2009. Source: Wikipedia

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5 responses so far ↓

  • 1 emily Jan 26, 2009 at 8:59 pm

    emo, screamo…reminds me of a tutorial i once got on http://www.fourfa.com/

  • 2 Roo Jan 26, 2009 at 11:27 pm

    Wow… what a change from the album I heard back in the day with “Understanding in a car crash”

    The thing that initially drew me into their sound was the melodic quality behind the screams, the raging guitars, and the crashing drums. Whereas with most bands I would be turned off by that (not my thing personally), I put Thursday on repeat.

    Thanks for the notice about the album, and it’s ripe for a podcast 🙂

  • 3 Tj Brown Jan 27, 2009 at 12:36 am

    I like thursday. The cover they did of the buzzcocks’ song ‘Never Fallen In Love” is one of my favorite rock songs.

  • 4 dmarks Feb 1, 2009 at 2:35 pm

    Looks like a cast photo from a forthcoming “Stargate” TV series.

  • […] outfit from New Jersey kick off their Taste of Chaos Tour  and debut their well-received fifth studio album, “Common Existence.” Seeing them perform still gives me chills, and brings me right back to a special time and place in […]