Thrice - Beggars [Album]

Hassle / Vagrant (Out Sept 14th)

September 9, 2009, 03:33 PM

Views: 565   Comments: 2

Buy Thrice - Beggars [Album] From Amazon.com

It’s been a long time since I listened to Thrice, I remember listening to "The Artist In The Ambulance" album and then for some reason they dropped off my radar, not in a case of I suddenly didn’t like them, I just had moved on trying to find other bands and kind of forgot about Thrice.

So when I noticed that this album was available to review here on Altsounds.com and given that Dustin Kensrue had called it

than the last two albums it made me think it would be a good time to jump back on the Thrice ship.

From the start with ‘All The World Is Mad’ Dustin ended up proving me right with the material going back to the roots of Thrice. The lyric content showing the downfall of the world from an unknown source, it could be political, it could be something else, the ambiguous nature of it gives it an edge that you don’t get to see much in modern music.

'The Weight' follows on with the story about a relationship that’s enduring crisis with the protagonist ensuring the other that they won’t be left behind out of loyalty which he feels seems to be the exception rather than the rule in the world created.

In fact the underlying theme of "Beggars" is mostly about trying to change things ('In Exile' talking about trying to live as a nomad, talking through glass about trying to leave a bad relationship) however other songs such as ‘The Great Exchange’ tells the story of a voyage and 'Wood and Fire' to me is closing the chapter that the Alchemy Index started.

Musically due to the recording being done in guitarist Teppi Teranishi’s garage the production has a more raw sound giving the edge that many people could have said the last two lacked, rawness to me always helps as it gives the band to work again from the ground up, the solos particularly on the title track is haunting.

I felt with "Beggars" that I had re-kindled a reconnection with a band that I had forgotten about and maybe sometimes you need to step away for a while to rediscover how good a band were or have now become. To fans that have followed Thrice consistently they will see this as an evolution while some may see it as a comfort zone, to me I was pleased that Thrice are back and in my mind they are going to stay this time around.

#1 | Subscribe | Send to Friend | Print | Discipline | Report