The Real War Is in the Interpretation

New Jersey's Thursday blew listeners away with Victory Records release Full Collapse, a record that seemed to revolutionize what we as a general audience consider "emo" (music with an emphasis on the song's emotional identity), thus breaking the genre free of its Dashboard Confessional stereotype of "I'm sad so I'm going to whine" balladry. Not to stab Dashboard as their music serves more like a relationship/breakup First Aid case, meant only to be used in the most extreme of circumstances. Thursday, however seems more like something a person could feel comfortable listening to on a day-to-day basis with their far heavier sound, one that seems to almost dabble into a hardcore/punk feel. With their new release War All the Time, Thursday explores new creative venues with assistance from Island and Def Jam records.

In regards to the overall sound of War All the Time, a great deal of fans from Full Collapse-era Thursday felt let down. After all, the abundance of wall-of-sound half-sung and half-screamed lyrics were to a certain extent toned down. So much so that on the track "This Song Brought to You by a Falling Bomb," Geoff Rickley almost can't be heard through his delicate whisper. It seems as though the band as a whole were after an even more melodic sound than their last album and War All the Time is the realization of that pursuit; Only a few songs now have partially shouted lyrics and the band explores new time signatures and rhythms. While the chief complaint towards this album is the at-first obvious similarity of structure and sound of the majority of songs, Thursday's principal growth lies in the use of new lyricism. Upon looking at the lyrics booklet even before I had a chance to listen to the album, I was completely blown away. So much so that the lyrics to the album's title track inspired me to share it with people twice my age just to see the impressed look on their face when they hear that a bunch of "young hooligans" wrote them. I personally believe that to completely satisfy the listener of this album, one needs the lyrics sheet in front of them. It is then that they can figure out just what Geoff sings at times (there are a few moments that either the music, the production, or some enigmatic factor washes him out) and can learn the full meaning of the song they are currently listening to.

To write a song-by-song description doesn't do this album justice. After all, I did mention that the majority of the songs sound the same, separated only by subtle elements, harmonics, and the like, with "This Song Brought..." to be the only obviously different track. Instead, focusing on the album's strong point: its lyrics, seems like a much better idea. Included are what I believe to be the chunks of lyrics that capture each song's identity best.

1. For the Workforce, Drowning (3:16)
The people inside,
They dressed for the funeral in black and white
These ties strangle our necks
Hanging in the closet
Filed in the cubicle
Without a name
Just numbers on a resume
Stored in the mainframe
Marked for delete

2. Between Rupture and Rapture (3:03)
I've been shaking
You can't save me
(Forget what the doctor said)
Every bird in midflight
Is calling out your name
Before it hits the window
And sings the rapture

3. Division St. (4:14)
I held you tight like an empty bottle
But the glass broke
And the poison spilled out of your mouth:
Hello...hello...is anybody there?

4. Signals Over the Air (4:10)
I want to stop in your lungs
And collect all of your blood
To put in the radio
Is this how it feels
When you don't even fit into your own skin?
And it's getting tighter
Every day I'm getting smaller

5. Marches and Maneuvers (4:27)
If we fly a white flag
Under a black and blue sky
Will the red sun rise?

6. Asleep in the Chapel (3:46)
Next to the rosary you count
Falling asleep
And we're praying to treat the symptoms
Of letting go of all our hope
Since we can't compete with with martyred saints
We'll douse ourselves in gasoline
And hang our bodies from the lampposts
So that our shadows turn into bright lights 'white light

7. This Song Brought to You By a Falling Bomb (2:16)
Shut the window, love
Keep the world outside
I don't want to think of anyone
But the footsteps are getting louder
Drowning out the sound of the rain
As it knocks on the windowsill

8. Steps Ascending (4:26)
Do you remember when we'd fly that kite so high?
All the time we've wasted
Spent fighting
Will burn in the fire our regrets
All the time we've wasted
Spent fighting
It's blood and it's running down the stairs

9. War All the Time (4:33)
I was five years old
My best friend's older brother died
He fell from these cliffs and the river washed him away
The current pulled him downstream
And our lives float in the headlines

10. M. Shepard (3:36)
We'll lie in the back of black cars
With the windows rolled up
Joining the procession of emptiness
If we say these words
It will be too late to take them back

Tomorrow I'll Be You
Maybe the night seems so dark
Because the day is much too bright
For us to see that we are cured
Shatter the lens, pull out the shards
We are cured

The album itself is available in two packages: a Digipak-style "booklet" that opens up containing the disc in a folder on the left and album/artwork booklet on the right and a standard jewel case containing what I believe is the same lyrics booklet. Suprisingly, the cost for both are identical (or so they were while I was visiting Best Buy yesterday 10-02-03). I almost didn't buy this album when I caught sight of The Wherehouse's exhorbitant 17.99 price tag, thinking that the price was one set by Island Records. If there is one thing I won't support especially after the RIAA's forced closure to online file-sharing as we currently know it, it's the increased price of albums. The only major label that seems to be decreasing the price of its albums is Universal, offering albums such as The Mars Volta's Deloused in the Comatorium (an album, by the way that I highly recommend even as a companion to War All the Time) for a paltry 9 dollars and 99 cents. Fortunately, the folks at Best Buy who rarely take CD prices up towards twenty bucks unless it's a multi-disc set were offering War All the Time for a smooth 13 dollars.

For free listening of sample tracks or to read about the band's meaning and intention for their music, visit their website at www.thursday.net. I wouldn't attempt to download tracks over Kazaa simply because of the fact that every track I have attempted to download from War All the Time seems to be a mixed sampler of all the tracks and simply doesn't capture the overall aesthetic of the album.