Never News: Music

Thursday - A City By The Light Divided

Island Records



After an urgent text message from Brando, I went out and picked up Thursday's new album, 'A City by the Light Divided'. Being a Thursday fan who spent next to no time with 'War all the Time', I was a little taken aback by the. . . glitz?. . . of it all.

Thursday hasn't left behind their sense of momentum or timing, and, as a result, the record is filled with perfect post-hardcore melodies and guitar lines. Geoff has, in the space between 'War' and 'City', worked with a vocal coach, a change that, to my surprise, doesn't detract from the harshness of the band; he can, simply, create slight shifts in his voice. But no vocal cracks? Weird.

The lyrics, as always, are a bit on the trite side; this was true of both 'Waiting' and 'Collapse', where the lyrics would border on sophomoric but with a slight hint of charm; you couldn't disregard the lyrics because, goddammit, they were good in their context and they were meant. It's no different on this record; we have moments of 'meh' (we shall overcome) and moments of 'alright!' (this is all we've ever known of God/fight with me/let me touch you now).

That the production quality has risen since 'Collapse' isn't a detractor from the Thursday appeal; they sound good amongst the studio magic that an Island contract provides. They never cross the line from 'epic' to 'angst', and there are only a few moments when the actual music of the album is iffy (the guitar at the beginning of 'Running from the Rain' could have been cribbed from Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the drumming on the instrumental intros is a little tired and unoriginal).

Several songs ('Sugar in the Sacrement' and 'The Lovesong Writer') have the knack of getting stuck in my head.

And, you know what? I'm not complaining.

posted by Colin Reed Moon @ 2:01 PM