Thursday – ‘A City By The Light Divided’ (Hassle) Released 05/06/06

When you are pretty much responsible for the creation of a genre, you know you’ve got it made from here on in, you could probably live off your one or two albums and disappear into oblivion happy in your self indulgent comfort zone. Thursday however, are not a band that are going to go quietly. Constantly pushing the envelope with their post-hardcore movement and never ones to sit on the fence the New Jersey six piece anti-emo monsters have once again drawn a line in the sand, challenging anyone to say they have sold out.

'A City By The Light Divided' is noticeably different from their previous three albums, not just because they have utilised Dave Fridmann’s skills at turning a band into a weapon, but because they have honed their sound and tapped into the controlled power that they were always aiming to unleash. Rickley’s voice is calm and he has concentrated on actually singing rather than screams or incessant unnerving wails, the band play as a separate entity united for an assault, not ever fighting for space, but comfortable in the fact that they each have a job to do. Where ‘Full Collapse’ might have been a wall of sound, ‘A City...’ showcases the band in such a way that the guitars duel, the keyboards actually mould the sound and the drums stamp their mark rather than fill space. Yes the album is a very polished piece of work with major production stamped all over it, which will shamefully turn off those purist fans, but if you said goodbye at ‘War All The Time’ you are a traitor anyway as this is no sell out in any way shape or form.

First single ‘Counting 54321’ would give a clear indication of where Thursday are going with this new record. Rickly’s voice is on form, and the rolling straight edge riffs are disconcerting for a moment as the stop/start/stop/start riffs of old only make a brief appearance, yet after a few rotations it is easily one of their best songs. Highlight tracks such as the piercing ‘We Will Overcome’ and ‘Running From The Rain’ hold the band at their most vulnerable as two extreme contrast of styles are held apart by the instrumental ‘Arc-Lamps, Signal Flares, A Shower Of White’ a brave move by the band as the record is then clearly split into two halves. The first half – a blinding statement and return to experimental form and the second, an all out sonic assault, with ‘Running From the Rain’ as the lull before the storm.

The record goes on to peak at the brilliant ‘Telegraph Avenue Kiss’ that is unmistakeably Thursday and is sure to blow up some stereos around the world as the gloriously uplifting chorus can only be matched by the power of the electronically fused brilliance of ‘Into The Blinding Light’ that is sure to be a live favourite in the vein of ‘Cross Out The Eyes’ and 'Understanding In A Car Crash’. Once again Thursday have made a record that will shine through the herds of Emo bands throughout the world, confusing their would-be ‘pigeonholers’ yet again and creating an album that has lastability beyond their years. The line has been drawn, cross with care.