Track 1. All The World Is Mad
Cool intro. The Breckenridge brothers are tight and solid. Dustin Kensrue's voice has a nice, smooth vibrato to it that seemed to be lacking in the previous EPs for the respective elements. Haunting sort of melody, with a busy, Telecaster-laden riffage happening behind it. Drummer's kit is kinda noisy, but it lends energy to the song. "Something's gone terribly wrong, everywhere... all the world is mad..." Excellent songwriting once again, Dustin. Props. And this arpeggiation Teppei is putting out is HOT. Fast, tasteful, and driving. Overall song rating: 4.5 stars.
Track 2. The Weight
Lightly fuzzy, acoustic-y sounding intro. Kensrue's famous "bathroom stall" echoes in intro as well. Little bit of a math-rock vibe to this one. It's in an even signature, but you can count on breckenridge, Inc. to make you think twice about that. Chorus is a powerful kind of slow-slamdance one, a la' "The Earth Will Shake" from Vheissu. (Did Teppei put away the Les Paul for good on this record? I think i hear another 70's Tele). Another noisy kind of drum kit vibe, must be a theme for the record. Oo... clever interlude happening here. Drummer's classic kick-and-rimshot beat. Theme for the song seems to be standing up under opression, a great weight etc. Overall song rating: 4 stars
Track 3. Circles
Acoustic intro. Slow and contemplative. Tricky melody by Kensrue. True slowdance material for indie-rock kids. Once again, the Breckenridge brothers mess with my sense of rythmn and such. Seems to be a sort of "where do we go from here" kind of mood going on here. whether this is based on a relationship or a dry season of spirituality, it isn't clear.
Clever but simple guitar solo from Teppei. Maybe playing a Strat? I really should know but it's kind of effects-laden. Overall song rating: 3.8 stars
Track 4. Doublespeak
Math-rocky intro. I think the first time there's a dominant piano part. "Ends justify the means" kind of mindset. Another slow-slamdance song. I think this is what people mean when they say "groove-based rock". It doesn't sound fast, mostly just really locked in tight. Make no mistake, though, not any hack could play this. Half-time feel to the chorus, with a slowed-down kind of "Artist In The Ambulance" vibe to it. Bridge is laced with feedback and whammy-bar type harmonics. Overall feel seems to be reaching for "epic", but landing around "huge".
Song rating: 4 stars
Track 5. In Exile
Another slower intro, but fairly simple beat. Drummer's using fans, or similar soft, jazzy kind of "sticks". Allusions to C.S. Lewis and the Apostle Paul, a la "through a glass darkly". Seems to be a "not of this world" vibe. Aaand there Dustin said it himself. "I am not of this world, i'm just passing through". hehe. Reminds me of the drawing Jude made in "Across the Universe". If i could get a print of that, that would be amazing. I would put that up in every room i ever stayed in. but i digress. Solid, simple-for-Thrice kind of song. Ethereal sort of ending, which i really dig.
Overall rating: 4.8 stars
Track 6. At the Last
ooh. Fast. but groovy, like they said. Cool shuffle effect with the snare and kick drum. Seriously detuned bass (i thought they got rid of that after "Ambulance"?) or maybe it's a 5-string. That would make more sense. Kind of minimal approach for guitars, but it works for this song. Bass continues to drive, almost incessantly. Ugh... Breckenridge's doing that annoying "crash-cymbal-on-every-beat" riff. Not a fan. Oh well it's over. Oh. OH. Teppei, what is UP man? You been taking lessons from BB King? That lick was BLUESY. Overall rating: 4 stars
Track 7. Wood and Wire
Ethereal, lightly fuzzy guitar intro. Reminds me of the Air EP from The Alchemy Index. Another shuffle beat that makes me happy. And thickly-layered Kensrue-on-Kensrue harmonies. Really makes me happy. Although this isn't exactly a feelgood kind of song. Mellow, rainy-day-in-seattle kind of vibe. I want coffee... *pauses song and brews a pot* Back! Still digging the harmonies Kensrue is coming up with. Longish instrumental outtro, trippy kind of end. Overall song rating: 3.5 stars
Track 8. Talking Through Glass / We Move Like Swing Sets
Heavy kind of groove drum intro... cool. AND DUSTIN KENSRUE IN YOUR FACE! REAAAAHFREARARRRRGARG!! cool. I'm sold. The title has me confused though... Meh. It's not as important as I think it is, i bet. Cool vocal bends that Dustin's trying out. Nothing extravagant, but it gets your attention. *sips coffee* i think this french roast is the best thing that's happened to me as far as coffee is concerned in a long time. Like since espresso. Ooh. And now we've gone all acoustic, Earth-EP-esque. Hmm. Cool humming in BG, I dig. The swing sets part of the song seems to be kicking in, but these are not happy swing sets, they're sad and wistful. Overall song rating; 4.9 stars
Track 9. The Great Exchange
Interesting sort of guitar intro. I like the drumroll kind of beat Breckenridge is putting out. Kensrue is consistently creating some memorable-yet-original melodies too. Very haunting. I think that if i could pick one word for this album, it would be haunting. Or ethereal. Lots of oohs and hums and such. The Great Exchange seems to be referring to Christ's willingness to trade his life for ours. "Your body is a bridge across an endless sea..." Cool. Overall song rating: 5 Stars
Track 10. Beggars.
Ok. This is it. The summation of this album. Intro reminds me of "Miserable Visu" from Anberlin's latest record, but it sounds a little smaller, scale-wise. It seems to be very restrained, like they're afraid their audience will run away if they play too loud, but they also seem to have an urgency to say what they need to. Kensrue's melody is very inventive, again. Bends. They're new to his repertoie, but they are sweet.
ooh. bigger. More distortion, more passion to vocals. Gritty. mm. mm.. goood. Desperate. And then back to tender and quiet. Almost crack-ily quiet, for the vocals. Ooh, i sense an epic guitar solo coming! Hmm... Maybe not what i was expecting, but it's still pretty good. Longer than many of Teppei's other efforts. Kinda repetitive, but i guess it's becoming more of a riff than a solo. Almost atonal, very Tele-like tone. Overall song rating: 5 Stars
And that's it! I was kinda surprised at the end. Expecting more, perhaps. A more epic end, like Red Sky did for "Vheissu". It's the shortest Thrice album that I own, anyway, not counting the Alchemy EPs. It almost seems unfinished, in that it ends very noisily. Ah well. It's a good album, and I would recommend it to any long-time Thrice lover, for certain. For a new recruit, i think i would have them listen to at least their 3 previous albums, to get a feel for where they're coming from. The transformation that occurs from "The Artist In the Ambulance" to "Beggars" is simply astounding.
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