Thrice Returns With More Good Stuff
By Jeff Feuerhaken
First off, I’ve been a fan of Thrice throughout their entire career, even dating back to pre-Identity Crisis. My old punk band Sick Shift used to appear together with Thrice on some of the compilation CD’s that were popular in that era. Seeing the band change from what they were then to what they are now has been a master class in musical evolution. Yes, it’s true that it’s been a little difficult to categorize a band that creates a whole new sound for practically every album, but there is so much songwriting talent in the band, and Dustin Kensrue is such a damn good singer, that there has been at least one constant throughout their career: quality. For those unfamiliar with the Thrice backstory, I’ll give the abbreviated version. They started out doing a good version of skatepunk, then started throwing heavier sections and odd time changes in the mix, then began to focus on orchestration and various instrumental sounds, then mellowed out and got kinda folksy, then incorporated heavier grunge tunes, and then retired. So after a four-year hiatus, Thrice (like many Warped Tour-scene bands from that era) have returned with a brand new album, To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere. Judging from history, we could reasonably have expected this album this album to introduce an entirely new sound, right?
Well, the answer is surprisingly no. And while this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere sounds like a continuation of where the band left off from with their last two albums, Beggars (2009) and Major/Minor (2011). Some fans are thrilled by this, others not so much. Certainly the longtime fans who have been clamoring for more harder and faster tunes ever since 2005’s Vheissu (I must admit guilt for sometimes falling into this category, although Vheissu is excellent) will no doubt be disappointed. This album is more of Thrice doing their “heaviest folk band ever” thing. But it works. The opening track, “Hurricane” starts out mellow and acoustic-y but soon dives into a heavy, melodic chorus that feels like the best version of Thrice. “The Whisteblower” is a 5/4 time number that evokes the best moments from 2007’s double album, The Alchemy Index. My personal favorite track, “Death From Above” starts out as a 3/4 time mid-mellow tune before going full aggro-Thrice mode that seamlessly blends aggression with beauty. A music video was released for the song “Black Honey”, and while that song is one of the better ones on the album, the video is an absolute head scratcher. As to be expected, Dustin’s voice sounds phenomenal on this record. I think it can be argued that this might be his best vocal work to date. Shredmaster-turned-song-craftsman Teppei Teranishi provides tasteful accents to the album, mainly in the form of lush, reverb-laden guitar parts. Sibling drum and bass duo Eddie and Riley Breckenridge are solid, but they tend to get a little lost in the mix on this album, compared to the band’s earlier efforts.
The music video for “Black Honey” is kinda weird.
For all that To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere does right, there are ways in which it fails to meet expectations. Thrice has typically included a diverse collection of songs on each album, with the possible exception of Major/Minor, and like that album, here there is a little too much similarity among the individual tracks for my liking. They seem to really lock into that heavier folk thing on this album, and I gotta admit, that’s not what I love most about the band. The production is lush, and there are plenty of interesting sounds (although often buried in the mix), but the tone of all the songs is very similar, and honestly not as edgy as I prefer. Clearly a band like Thrice doesn’t give a damn about what certain people want from them, and they shouldn’t, but while listening to this album, I often found myself wanting to go back and listen to some of their older stuff, and I’m not sure if that’s a testament to the success or failure of this album. A band as good as Thrice has the unfair disadvantage of having to rise to the subjective heights of bar they’ve set, so take my criticisms with a grain of salt, because objectively speaking, To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere is very, very good. I highly recommend it to any fan of the band, from any era.
