It's time again for a night of drinking and music! (cheers and applause)
Thanks, I know I'm amazing, but seriously, I have beer and an album to review, so let's get on with it.
Tonight, I will be reviewing Thrice's latest (and hopefully not final) album, Major/Minor. This comes at the request of my friends, Colin and Chris. The latter of whom is the guitar player for the killer band, Vaudeville (Check them out!).
Now, Thrice is a band that I've been aware of since 2004 when a track from The Artist in the Ambulance appeared on the soundtrack of Madden (Yeah, I'm a football nerd and don't give a shit about the oxymoronic nature of that claim). This revealed them to be, in my mind, a mediocre hard(ish)core band.
That being said, I never really checked them out until the afore mentioned Chris turned me on to 2009's Beggars, and I am compelled to tell you that it is an AMAZING album. Own it now! Thrice really explored and grew. All of the material I've heard not off of The Artist in the Ambulance has been stellar.
This turns us now to 2011's Major/Minor. I have high hopes for this album and desperately hoping I'm not disappointed, so on with the review!
Album:
Thrice - Major/Minor
Alcohol:
Grain Belt Nordeast (Tallboys! Fuck yeah!)
From the start I'm pulled in with a killer riff on "Yellow Belly", and Dustin's vocals waist no time cutting in and gripping you right off. Such an angry song done in such a beautiful way. We head into a breakdown after the first chorus, and it is sexy with awesome guitar work in the background, and the explosion out of it is awe-inspiring. Lyrically, this song is so identifiable without being overly generic. Killer first track.
"Promises" begins by pulling out the energy created by the first track but totally builds it's own momentum with in the opening seconds. Can I rape a guitar line? Because I fully intend to forcibly insert my penis into the verse licks. Seriously, I can't even focus on the awesome lyrics over the guitar play happening. Kudos to mixing because the guitar comes through right along with the vocals. Oh, god, bass fuzz breakdown. Pause. Punch in the face followed immediately by a soothing guitar line, and abrupt ending for the win! Did I make a rape joke about a song denouncing the down spiral of society? Yes. I did.
The energy is not lost at all after the abrupt stop as "Blinded" comes in with a solid paced, but low key feel. A very heartfelt sound from Dustin, and although the tone is definitely a Christian feel (after all they are a Christian rock group), the song has enough ambiguity to keep the it great and emotional for this atheist. Not feeling the rise and falls in this track the same as the first two, but it has it's merit as it ends long and ringing.
And opens up to one of the sexiest basslines I've ever heard on "Cataracts". This has a calling to their punkier days, but with the distinct guitar play of their better stuff. And OH! That bassline again. Hot! Exploding into the second chorus the song seems to slowly be growing in intensity. The bridge is rhymatically sweet, and very catchy. Snare build! Into a pretty explosion, but explosion none the less, and I'm given a breakdown ending that leaves me smiling widely.
From the breakdown ending grows "Call It in the Air". A song about a coin toss. Well, with metaphors and shit, but I can tell you musically they do the metaphor justice as I can feel the tension of waiting to see whether heads or tails will fall. And the riffage coming out of the second chorus is badass as all hell (And from a Christian band no less!). The amount of low key intensity that this band is able to created and the pretty epicness is sucha trib--oh, wait badassery happening again! Holy shit! The last bit is incredible and puts a crazy awesome stamp on the whole song. Amazing!
Quiet beginnings birth out from that crazy ending. So pretty and n--OH WAIT! Here's the badass! Wow. The ground they cover in the opening of one song is incredible enough, but the writing on this albums is just unbelivable. From pretty first verse to driving and heavy second verse and the versatility is causing me to drool and I NEED a cigarette. NEED. Ooo. Pretty breakdown, and oh shit, kick that back in with more power than I think is legal for one band. This song is "Treading Paper", by the way, and it is definitely a high point. Ooo, with a pretty ending.
But staying true to form, "Blur" smashes me over the head with badass. And oh, so much badass. Is it wrong to be fully erect? Oh my god, even when they break it down, the almost jazz feel is badass. Yes. Jazz feel is badass. Believe it. This is Thrice. The guitar work is so fluid in and out of hard hitting riffage and flowing melodies. God, if you did something right, Thrice is it. Excellent punch in the face ending. So great.
But never wanting you to feel the same emotion for too long, a very pretty opening ensues on "Word in the Water". The drums come in on a snare roll that last all of the first verse, and from what has come before you can't help but feel a sense of impending doom. The best kind explodes in your face with some of the prettiest guitar work yet complimenting the vocals beautifully. Stripping down to the same snare roll build in the second verse. And my very first real complaint on this whole album is that the awesomely pretty doom of the first chorus is simply repeated in the second. But is that really fair? On any other album, this could be a stand out track, but here it is a low point that isn't even low. Still a great song. Pretty release to end the song.
Long pretty fade out ending is cut into by a pretty guitar work with a nice edge. "Listen Though Me" sets up nicely with a pretty verse leading into another snare build (No doubt the presence of all the snare builds is a punk carry over) that opens to a heavy hitting chorus. So much power! And the dynamics drop again to keys, and oh, the keys! SO PRETTY! SO FUCKING PRETTY! snare build again, this better deliver more this time. I'm expecting it. Pause. And kick in doesn't disappoint. Although it differs little from the first chorus, the music builds up around the snare roll this time, and the bridge stays so intense bringing us to a final chorus that ends in naked voice. Beautiful.
"Anthology" opens with snare clicks and pounds down with beautiful guitar melodies. Going from driving to flowing, and finally, opening into a low key but fast verse. The chorus shows this to be the most static feeling song on the album yet, and that's saying a lot considering it still delivers a wealth of dynamics and feel. The higher guitar line to open the chorus is such a cool sound that I am immediately jealous to not have written first. A simple thing, but adds so much. Dustin's vocals really shine here. And I feel bad for not noting his marvelous performance earlier. Such a pretty grit that is complimented so well by the guitar tones used. A drop off ending with feedback leads us to the last track.
"Disarmed" has found me at a point of tipsiness, and believe me, editing will happen before I post this. It'd be hard-ish to read as is. Such a subtle song to close the album, but yet, there is no lack of emotion here. The feel is depressing in a purposeful manner, but out of the second chorus come a badass bridge that solidifies this as an ending track. It opens up to more pretty. SO MUCH FUCKING PRETTY! Like, I'm almost tearing up from the pretty. I must hide my emotions behind a cigarette. Now. Really cool breakdown ending. Guitars are beautiful. Simply... Beautiful as they close out the disc.
My mind is now warped worse than a vinyl record in the backseat of a car parked in the sun on an Arizona summer afternoon, and as I take off my headphones to the harsh reality of being drunk in my living room with my girlfriend asleep on the couch, I will consider my ass kicked. Those who know me will understand the gravity of this one sentence summary: This album gives me faith in the Christian religion.
This has nothing to do with the messages they may have been trying to spout, but rather with the sheer beauty I was just pummeled with by those spouting them. Holy shit. Thank you, Chris and Colin.
Final Thoughts:
Good. Buy it. Or God will condemn you to hell. Seriously, it's not guaranteed passage into heaven (I'm a point in case), but failure to own this album can only result in eternal fire and pain. The end.
-Badhorse
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