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Six albums in 11 years is some turnover, and the journey has been fascinating. Surging out of Irvine with bratty anger, Thrice have always known their way around a melody, even if to begin with the primary message was angst. Since 2005’s superb Vheissu, though, the four-piece have marked themselves out as one of the world’s best guitar bands, capable of writing perfect contemporary records that are alive with raw aggression and moving subtlety.
As they’ve grown, and grown up, everything has become more measured, more calculated and more expressive. And while their last (double) album, where they broke their sound down into four elements – Fire, Water, Earth and Air – worked better as an artistic statement than a cohesive listening experience, now they’ve come out the other side, and drawn such experimentation back into a focused, powerful whole.
Beggars feels like the natural follow-up to Vheissu, and while it lacks that album’s jagged, uncertain edge, it still packs a punch, especially in its opening thrust of All the World Is Mad, with its crunching riffs, soaring vocal lines and apocalyptic lyrics. “But the blind lead the blind into bottomless pits,” cries Dustin Kensrue, “still we smile and deny that we’re cursed.”
Fortunately, Thrice aren’t all doom and gloom – second track The Weight has a huge chorus and an eloquent message of love and dedication (“Come what may, I won’t abandon you or leave you behind”), and Circles is one of the band’s most beautiful, plaintive songs to date, building majestically until it touches the sky.
Beggars loses its pace slightly towards the end, but the majority of this record represents some of the strongest work yet from one of the world’s most captivating bands. --Mike Haydock
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Customer Reviews
Fans of their earlier work may never warm to this but if you're open minded enough to give it a chance and a few listens then you will not be disappointed. The band have had quite a genre change but they show the listener that this doesn't have to be a bad thing.
'All The World Is Mad' sets the mood perfectly for the rest of the album; intelligent, melodic rock songs. They still have the memorable choruses of earlier Thrice but the arrangements are more complex and the production is ever so slightly more raw. This proves for a satsfying listen. The songs themselves are more similar to Radiohead than their previous efforts, giving them a less heavy, more mature sound. This doesn't, however, mean that they lose their identity; it's very much still the same Thrice you've always known.
From the opening track right through to the title track, this album is proof that Thrice have come a long way since 'Identity Crisis' and though they may have changed their sound, they're still an incredibly talented band.
Unfortunately like many others they struggle to be recigzied outside of the genre (Emo/Hardcore) that spawned them. This is a shame as documented here in Beggars the bands sound as evolved beyond that pidgeon hole. They seem to have kept the diversity of different guitar sounds exployed on The Alchemy index releases but simplified into a back-to-basics song writing that mirrors the bands early material (not in sound). With details sounding as diverse as hardcore, rhodes playing and dreamy soundscapes used to set the scene for a picture book of songs.
This would make a fantastic purchase for any rock fan looking for something a little more, Thrice fan and indie rockers discovering the band for the first time.
There is very little here in the way of surprises, the album is a decent set of solid but straight-forward rocking numbers. "Exile" stands out as a highlight with a driving rhythm, kensrus' lyrics carrying a world-weary quality. "At the last" is another rocky number, disintegrating with dissonant sounding guitars in the coda.
"Wood and wire" is a more sombre song, and represents the material that is most similar to the "alchemy index"; sounding like it could belong on the "Air" portion of "alchemy index". It also features a catchy chorus rhythm in 7/4.
All in all a strong and cohesive output from Thrice and one which has rewarded repeated listens. Essential for fans but not really otherwise.
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