Thursday

A City by the Light Divided

(Island)

Record Review by Alexis Roberts

I think that everyone was anxious to see what was going to happen to Thursday after their second full length, War All the Time, plopped them right into the lap of mainstream music.  After relentless touring, the six Jersey boys opted to take a year-long hiatus from making music, which lead to speculations that the sweethearts of screamo might be breaking up.  Lucky for us, the hiatus allowed them to work through whatever issues there may have been—and to return to release their best album thus far.

On A City by the Light Divided, they managed to break their old habits and try something new.  As I listened to this album in my car, I kept waiting to hear the all too familiar “BWAAAAHHH !” during the choruses of the songs.  Instead, I found that Thursday has traded in most of their screaming for more of Geoff Rickly’s rich and creamy vocals.  You don’t get a taste of old school Thursday until “At This Velocity,” which reminds me a lot of their classic “How Long is the Night.”

“Running From The Rain” is the type of song that you will get stuck listening to on repeat for a couple hours, a borderline ballad that is very uncharacteristic of Thursday.  “Autumn Leaves Revisited” is a prefect closer; the guitar riff played throughout the song is more contagious than the flu and you will fell forced to learn how to play it even if you don’t play the guitar—trust me.

If you’re an old Thursday fan, I recommend forgetting everything you knew about this band before you play this CD.  It will be so much better if you go into it without expecting another War All the Time or Full Collapse.  If you happen to be a closet Thursday fan, you should no longer feel the need to embarrassed; this will be the album to out you.