Thursday
Full Collapse

Whether you like it or not, Thursday has been one of the bands that most marked the last decade.

They revolutionized one of the most overexposed genres of all time, post-2000 emocore, elevating it to a level of excellence difficult to achieve, and "Full Collapse" is the beginning of it all (or rather, it is the first album under a major label as the debut "Waiting" was released by the independent label Eyeball). I like to think of the journey of the New Jersey-based combo as the flight of a dove, a bird particularly significant for the band: it is, first of all, their logo, created by guitarist Tom Keeley, and in the lyrics, there are several references to the bird; a flight with wings spread wide, among the clouds just above the city, observing what happens below. Because this is the landscape that the five describe: a rapid, fast race through the narrow streets of a metropolis, a race that then slows down when the rain lessens, but then will relentlessly return.

It must be promptly clarified that the incredibly nasal voice of the great Geoff Rickly will hardly be appreciated at first listen, but if you manage to get past this, to hear all the soul he puts into it, how deep the screams come from... well, a large part of the work is done. Because Thursday is not just the extraordinary vocal performance just described, which in itself would already suffice... their splendor equally resides in the intertwining that the Keeley-Pedulla duo manages to create, in the never banal time changes, which hit you when you least expect it, in the incredible melodic openings, in the metallic outbursts, in the tiny, just hinted breakdowns. Moreover, it would be superfluous to conduct a track-by-track analysis; it would take away much of the pleasure of discovery, but if you want to choose a couple of tracks to understand what I'm talking about, start with "Cross Out The Eyes" and "Paris in Flames".

There is nothing predictable, nothing heard before, every break, every scream, hits like arrows to the heart. It is here that lies the most emo component of the group, at times reminiscent of Sunny Day Real Estate, but this is just the beginning because categorizing them as "emo" or "post-hardcore" would be somewhat reductive, despite their roots coming from this melting pot.

"Full Collapse" is just the beginning of the flight of the dove, an unceasing flight, which when the rain beats down seems to falter, slows down, but then rises, looking at the city, spreading its eagle wings.