Thursday
Common Existence

From the very beginning thrown into that big cauldron called "emo," Thursday have gradually tried to modify the coordinates of their musical course, producing albums that strayed more or less far from this disparaged "genre" of music. They've also been discussed as a post-hardcore band with clear Fugazi influences. I don't know, honestly, I'm not very familiar with Fugazi, and I don't want to get bogged down in the debate over whether Thursday is emo or not. I don't care; actually, to tell the truth, I don't know much about the band I'm about to review either. Or rather, I've listened to only one album in its entirety, "War All The Time," which never fully impressed me, but I felt that this "Common Existence" would be different. And after many listens, I can say I was right.

The experimentation of our band, which has become a constant over several albums, is increasingly present here. The work offers a series of powerful tracks, filled with strong guitars, with a rhythm section that is sometimes overwhelming, and with vocals, sometimes in scream mode, sometimes in clean, all of which are damnably direct and emotional (in the sense that they convey something, they can energize or depress you, but they never leave you indifferent).

The nice thing is that in a total of eleven tracks, it's very difficult to find drops in tension or interest: each piece is kept constantly on edge by ongoing tension that seems never to quiet down, not even in seemingly more relaxed moments or acoustic breaks.

The opening track, "Resuscitation Of a Dead Man" clarifies this thought of mine (among other things, it has the characteristics of the classic "first track" of one of our band's albums, capable of hitting you rabidly with everything at once).

I won't do a "track-by-track" (usually I like to describe the feelings experienced while listening to the individual pieces on an album): this time, I prefer everyone embarks on their journey through "Common Existence" free from any judgments but their own. I only ask you to pay attention to moving tracks like the initial "Resuscitation Of a Dead Man," "As He Climbed The Dark Mountain," "Friends In The Armed Forces," "Time’s Arrow," "Subway Funeral," "Love Has Led Us Astray," and "You Were The Cancer" (if there are two brighter gems in the entire album, perhaps these are the two). Seven pieces out of eleven (and it's not that the others are worth much less): but I'm sure that even just three of the songs I mentioned above will win you over from the first listen.

To conclude, I would like to emphasize how in this album everything seems crafted perfectly: from the recording quality to the way delicate melodies intertwine with furious electric outbursts, or sweet and lulling voices, vaguely melancholic, suddenly scratch and tear. Not to mention the lyrics, never too cryptic and always perfectly matching the musical moments proposed by our band.

As far as I'm concerned, the album deserves the highest marks. You might not like emo, you might not like post-hardcore: Thursday is not just that, at least not in this "Common Existence." High-quality music releases have been somewhat scarce in these eight months of 2009, especially in the "alternative" field (which I know doesn't mean much as a term, but it gives a bit of an idea). However, you shouldn't make the mistake of missing out on this album which (I repeat, this is said by someone who knows little about Thursday, emo, and post-hardcore), is really worth listening to and making your own.