Thrice - Beggars
Rating
RIYL
RadioheadFrodus
Pink Floyd
Release Date
09/15/2009
Label
Vagrant RecordsTracklist
1. All The World Is Mad2. The Weight
3. Circles
4. Doublespeak
5. In Exile
6. At The Last
7. Wood & Wire
8. Talking Through Glass
9. The Great Exchange
10. Beggars
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2007 and 2008 were bitter years for Thrice’s discography. They delivered a 24-track project ostentatiously titled The Alchemy Index that, while it smelled like progression from the outside, was actually a soured regression in terms of quality in content. It was an elementary interpretation of their influences (be it Isis, Radiohead, Bob Dylan or Tom Waits) that showed the band listened to good music but did nothing more than rehash them in an often sub-par way. Even with all of the memorable songs considered, the volumes were forgettable efforts.
Still, people can only churn the same ideas for so long (as of 2009, Thrice is 11 years old), so it makes sense the Orange County punk veterans are starving for reinvention. And while The Alchemy Index was undoubtedly a blemish, Thrice takes up the old Edison adage about genius and tries again on Beggars. That’s why you’ll discover some elements from previous releases still present here; noticeably dominant are those from the Air and Earth volumes. The band’s influences still wave furiously for attention – the Radiohead vibe simply will not be shrugged off – and Biblical lyrics of similar themes used in past albums control the messages. Yet despite all of the alleged recycling, Beggars is still Thrice’s most original work to date. Whereas The Alchemy Index played like the band was just trying to emulate the greats, Beggars makes plenty of room for the voice of Thrice.
Right off the bat “All The World Is Mad” speaks to the Vheissu days, reviving the post-hardcore sound so many came to love Thrice because of. Unfortunately, it’s not anything up to par with the band’s past work, but then again Thrice has never been about packing extra firepower into openers. Though ultimately forgettable musically, the track still rails frustratingly a memorable message at the shortcomings of society: “We are brimming with cumbersome, murderous greed / And malevolence deep and profound / Something’s gone terribly wrong with everyone.” “The Weight” follows, brimming with blues swagger and expands on the last song’s heavy tone with vocalist Dustin Kensrue bellowing the chorus almost unintelligibly. Both opening numbers are loud breaths of fresh air when compared to the Indexes, but are more or less overshadowed by what’s to come.
“Circles” is when the album really begins to pick up speed in quality. Pulling big-picture ideas directly from Radiohead’s In Rainbows, Thrice reinterprets the slower bits from the 2007 masterpiece in a gentle crooner about a lack of focus in life and strikes a mine of inspiration. It’s basically a bluesier outfit of slow In Rainbows favorites like “All I Need,” dressed with a shimmering-guitar post-rock conclusion and songwriting aptitude; look for this one on "Best Of" lists to come. “Doublespeak,” however, takes the blues sound and elevates it to more emotional heights. Kensrue isn’t afraid to get noisy over a terrific piano line here, and it works.
“In Exile” shares more in common with “Circles,” as it eases the pace to a moderate display of vocal soul and “oh-oh” sing-alongs. The album then returns quickly to more potent rock on “At The Last,” which bursts into reserved screams in its bridge when the character of the lyrics realizes he has wasted his life. Speaking of character, “Wood & Wire” tells Thrice’s most touching narrative yet about a man who has, “Lost nearly everything / For a crime of which I’m innocent,” but sees that, “The dawn is coming / All is well, I will rejoice.”
With cascading riffs and urgent yelling, “Talking Through Glass” is another volume-cranker that resolves into a beautiful chord progression before drooping into an acoustic segment reminiscent of Bon Iver. Out of the five heavier tracks, “Talking Through Glass” is the most appealing, piling on drive, adrenaline and sheer thrill.
Closers “The Great Exchange” and “Beggars” finish with renewed Radiohead flair. The former is a mellow tribute to Jesus Christ, while the latter stretches Biblical lyrics over a snarling buildup leading to a guitar-twirling rock-out session that ultimately burns itself out. Then you find your greedy fingers reaching for repeat, and the journey starts all over again.
Despite all its delicate and often mystical instrumentation, this isn’t a Belle And Sebastian album; listeners won’t find themselves entrenched in an imaginary world of pleasant scenery. Beggars is much more of a purification record for people to come back to reality with - an album that’s all about the imperfections and downfalls of life and maybe, just maybe, finding hope. Still, Thrice being able to accomplish this message through the lens of Radiohead is impressive, and the borderline rip-off aspect can be overlooked. But somehow, it’s easier to believe Radiohead would be more proud than indignant if they ever heard Beggars, meaning the music here is truly something great.
--Matthew Tsai
Comments
Kansas
Circles is one of the best songs i've ever heard. Ever.
http://rateyourmusic.com/~benny06
Claremont, CA
listened for the first time yesterday....and realized immediately the radiohead similarities, especially in the basslines. can't wait to give this many many more spins.
Baton Rouge
Though I disagree with your assessment of The Alchemy Indexes--I actually enjoyed them alot--I think the rest of this review is spot on. The first two tracks are kind of weak, but the following eight are pretty much golden.
Boobs
http://thenicsperiment.blogspot.com/
Colorado
I really do enjoy this album, but... (a big BUT), you cannot listen to this album in your car, if you are running any kind of system. There is absolutely no bass that comes through.
Fishers, Indiana
Not a huge fan of this, although I'm an enormous fan of The Alchemy Index and not a fan of Radiohead, so this album probably wasn't for me. :-P
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Leeds, England
I really don't care much for this band at all, but this review has me interested in checking this out now.
Isn't the Cd version of Beggars meant to comr with a couple of bonus tracks?
I like this. I liked The Alchemy Index. I like Thrice.
Well-written review, but I wasn't a huge fan of the "Thrice kinda sucks, but this album is actually good" tone to much of it.
Beer Blog
San Jose, CA
I wasn't aiming for that tone, as I think Vheissu is still their best work yet and I really enjoy their older punk stuff. I did dedicate some time frowning on The Alchemy Index though, which is probably where you picked that impression from. No worries, you like Beggars? We can get along.
last.fm/user/thetsaiguy
San Jose, CA
Yeah it'll come with a Beatles cover and some other stuff.
last.fm/user/thetsaiguy
Somewhere in New York
it's kind of off putting to hear this sounds so much like radiohead. We already have them, but I'm still interested in listening to this disc.
"If someone gives you a kazoo and toots around the house to MTV, they're not gonna fuck you." - David Cross
Atascadero, CA
this band died to me after The Artist In The Ambulance.. i no longer care to watch them play or listen to anything they do more than once.
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Indeed I do!
Beer Blog
Waterloo, Ontario
this album is amazing, i can't wait till it comes out on disk
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San Jose, CA
@Andrew Don't let it turn you off, since half the disc is still post-hardcore-y stuff. Where there is a dominant Radiohead presence, however, are the best parts.
@Aaron Why not?
last.fm/user/thetsaiguy
Boston, MA
Nice review. The opening paragraph is exactly how I feel about The Alchemy Indexes
Stereo Typing
Tweet at me, bro
Atascadero, CA
nothing will EVER touch The Illusion of Safety, its just so depressing to me they had the entire world in the cup of their hands and then decided to get all Mars Volta on everyone. I caught em in Ventura Warped and just felt let down.. should have been so much more than this pretentious crap.
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San Jose, CA
Hmm, I think you're hearing a different band than some of us because I'm not sure I hear TMV at all. I agree that The Alchemy Index stuff was really pretentious but everything else has been anything but.
last.fm/user/thetsaiguy
Atascadero, CA
i dont hear The Mars Volta, i used that as an analogy to what they did with their music.
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Senegal Africa
I do feel this album has a stronger punk vibe than their last couple albums and the artist i feel like most influenced their sound recently would be the cold war kids. I dont really here a strong radiohead vibe too much except on a couple parts, i mean if you guys think this sounds like radiohead you would have to say the same with As tall as lions, the dear hunter, and mute math (recent stuff off the top of my head that have a similar dynamic).
Listening to:
fuckin african mosques (Tang na bu baax)
Oklahoma
Yeah, I'm with Thuggin; I don't hear the Radiohead influence as explicitly as everyone else seems to... especially the In Rainbows comparison. I thought that association was a bit of a stretch. Good album, regardless.
San Jose, CA
Oh ok.
The Radiohead vibe is definitely there, much more so than in new ATAL/MM/etc. Listen to In Rainbows and then listen to Beggars.
last.fm/user/thetsaiguy
Raleigh, NC
Don't listen to Radiohead or Thrice, but this artwork is fantastic.
Senegal Africa
I feel the straightforward song structures on the this album to be the complete opposite of anything the Mars Volta has done except for their last album. Aaron, did you listen to this album or are you so good at smelling out crap that you didn'thave to torture yourself with actually hearing'The SoundsOf Thrice Sucking'?
Listening to:
fuckin african mosques (Tang na bu baax)
Cincinnati
I would have to say Thrice is like Foo Fighters for me. I tend to really dig their singles, so I buy the album, only to like very few other songs.
I hate when that happens. So not sure how I feel about this new one yet.
Atascadero, CA
i tried, i got through about half of it before I decided not to torture myself anymore. it's still on my ipod, maybe I'll try again I'm just not really that into them anymore.
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