Thrice - The Alchemy Index (3&4: April 15)

[halo19]

That's the confirmed title (on a video on their Myspace, posted yesterday) for the band's fifth album. I am so happy to be looking forward to them after I fully got into them when I heard Vheissu and have basically tried getting a hold of every last track from them. (The only ones I don't own are "Madman," only on the original Greenflag issue of Identity Crisis, and "Lullaby," a Vheissu b-side.)

On tour this fall with Brand New & mewithoutYou, and one show I'm making sure to see. I may get former band's latter two albums due to interest, but for some reason I am not interested in Your Favorite Weapon.

[halo19]

It's been confirmed on punknews.org that the release is going to be on Vagrant.
www.punknews.org/article/25015

So they'll be releasing it in two parts. The fire & water one is getting released this fall and the earth & air one is getting released in spring of next year.

[a Nick O!]

I believe the tracklist is available now, if you wanna dig that up.

[water]

I can't wait for Water!

[water]

Water Track Listing
07) Digital Sea
08) Open Water
09) Lost Continent
10) Night Diving
11) The Whaler
12) Kings Upon the Main

[water]

Here is the album cover in all its huge glory for Volumes Fire and most importantly, Water. Very majestic.

www.absolutepunk.net/gallery/files/2/5/4/4/5/Thrice---The-Alchemy-Index-_original.jpg

[water]

halo19 said:

I may get former band's latter two albums due to interest, but for some reason I am not interested in Your Favorite Weapon.

Yeah, that album isn't really worth it. Just download "Jude Law" "Seventy Times Seven", "The No Seatbelt Song" and "Soco Amareto Lime". They might play those.

[halo19]

Alternative Press has a review up for the November issue:

www.flickr.com/photos/alchemyindex/1448617811/

[halo19]

I am definitely getting this in the morning of "tomorrow." I can not wait. I wish it were all four parts at once but oh well.

In spite some of the expectations for the band I don't know if it'll be a real big album. I know that Jimmy Eat World are definitely going to outsell Thrice in the opening week.

Oh, and as for the first post, I now have a copy of "Lullaby" from the Hopeless compilation (that song's AMAZING) and "Madman"'s on my computer as well as a track called "Lockstep."

[halo19]

It's been revealed by Riley on the band's blog (Jan. 24) that the album's release date is April 15th. They have a track list for both records:

Vol. III: Air
1. Broken Lungs
2. The Sky Is Falling
3. A Song for Milly Michaelson
4. Daedalus
5. As the Crow Flys
6. Silver Wings

Vol. IV: Earth
1. Moving Mountains
2. Digging My Own Grave
3. The Earth Isn't Humming
4. The Lion and the Wolf
5. Come All You Weary
6. Child of Dust

"The Earth Isn't Humming" is a cover from D.C. hardcore band Frodus.

This time around, they're headlining a tour that includes Circa Survive and Pelican. Both interesting bands this time around.

Meanwhile, I try to stream an AOL video of a professionally recorded "Come All You Weary."

[a Nick O!]

This is exciting. Plus I've got a $5 Best Buy Reward Zone coupon that expires 4 days after that and I hadn't been able to think of anything else I'd want to buy before then.

[halo19]

I read on Wikipedia that the album got leaked today to the Internet. I was mad that there was no source for that.

"Come All You Weary" has a digital single out on the 4th of next month and it has an acoustic "Whaler" and Benjamin Weinman (of DEP fame) remix of "Digital Sea," which I can't wait to hear. It also has the music video in there of "DS."

If you go to alchemyindex.com there is a tour date section. I hate bursting the bubbles to a person who won't likely get to see this part of the tour but I'm going to try to hit Austin on April 23rd. For a headlining Thrice show this time.

[a Nick O!]

halo19 said:

"Come All You Weary" has a digital single out on the 4th of next month and it has an acoustic "Whaler" and Benjamin Weinman (of DEP fame) remix of "Digital Sea," which I can't wait to hear.

Nor can I. (Although I can wait longer than you, since you are absolutely the bigger Thrice and DEP fan of us two.)

halo19 said:

If you go to alchemyindex.com there is a tour date section. I hate bursting the bubbles to a person who won't likely get to see this part of the tour...

Goddammit.

halo19 said:

...but I'm going to try to hit Austin on April 23rd. For a headlining Thrice show this time.

Speaking of headlining, I'm really sore now that Brand New was just at my club last fall and I sacrificed my prime working/viewing vantage point to my crush, who was clearly the bigger Brand New fan. Not that I sacrificed it to her, but that I wasn't ready to see Brand New yet, as it turns out.

For doing that for her, she burned me copies of Favorite Weapon and Devil & God (Steve burned me Deja Entendu over 3 years ago). And while I listened to YFW a few times in the car before '07 was up, I didn't really sit down with it (and D&G) until this past week. (I'd previously heard D&G many times over '07 in the old record store, but nothing really sunk in much since I couldn't fully pay attention to it.) I purposely listened to their catalog this past week because she quit her job there with me a month ago now and I was to be attending her birthday party Saturday (yesterday), which was the first time I'd actually seen her since she quit. Since I have no idea when I'll be seeing her again, I kinda thought I owed it to her to listen to BN's discography before this weekend.

YFW is decent. I relistened to DE a couple times and raised it a half star to 4/5. But then I got to TD&GARIM. And that album has just leveled me this past week. She had told me back when she gave these to me, after describing it to her, that the track I like best from D&G from hearing it in my store, was "Millstone." No it isn't. I realized from Jesse saying "milestone" ( ) in the chorus which one that was. Then track 4 turned out to be the one I meant all along. "Degausser." Oh my f***ing god, that song is just glorious, now that I've been able to give it my 100% attention. Seriously, that song makes my skin tingle, it moves me that much. At 5:32, I wish that song could go on 2 or 3 times as long, it actually feels short to me. I still need to put up my personal chart from this past week, but expect to see this album crash my chart next Wednesday. Sowing Season, Millstone, Jesus, Degausser, You Won't Know will all definitely be showing up. (Maybe more, since I still have 3 more days until I make it.)

I didn't realize just how anti-press they are and how infrequently they tour, so I just got f***ed, with them being at my club only four months ago. I loved the D&G album cover ever since I saw it, I took both promo singles for it that my store had this past year, I just didn't realize how f***ing awesome that new record really was and am crushed now that I was over a year too late on it.

Imagine that episode of Seinfeld where, despite the ludicrously bright red neon light pouring into his apartment from their neon sign, Kramer falls in love with Kenny Rogers' Chicken. Ignore all that, as it doesn't relate to me, but picture the end, where after the restaurant's gone, Kramer's muttering in despair, with that sheet hanging out of his window with "Kenny Come Back" written on it. Picture me now muttering in despair out a window of the club, with a sheet reading "Brand New Come Back."

F**k my life. [/TJ's Liquor employee in Superbad]

[halo19]

Checked my mail last night in sheer excitement. The latter volumes are not as immediate as the first two but are just as interesting if not even more.

I prefer Air to Earth, but they are both pretty good. I was intrigued with the latter after hearing "Broken Lungs" on the band's myspace and was satisfied with pretty much each track. I didn't honestly think Earth sounded much like solo Kensrue, apart from maybe the single "Come All You Weary." There's banjo on the first track from that disc and about half of 'em piano driven. I love the lyrics of "Digging My Own Grave," as well.

[halo19]

The overall collection isn't quite Vheissu but I like it even more than TAITA. I already had that impression of the first half after a few months.

I almost like Air as much as Water. That one is so creative and beautiful that it captivates me. And Fire is overall amazing. I'm a big fan of Earth but like it the least. I'm not especially big on "Moving Mountains" which is merely decent for me, but enjoy the other songs on that disc.

[a Nick O!]

For some reason so far, I haven't played 3 & 4 except for one time in the car.

[halo19]

Okay, so RA's myspace listed the dates with Thrice and Alk3:

6 Aug 2008 12:00
Race City Speedway / Warped Tour Calgary, Alberta
8 Aug 2008 12:00
The Idaho Center Amphitheatre / Warped Tour Nampa, Idaho
9 Aug 2008 12:00
The Gorge Amphitheatre / Warped Tour Gorge, Washington
10 Aug 2008 12:00
Colubia Meadows/ Warped Tour St. Helens, Oregon
13 Aug 2008 12:00
Savemart Center / Warped Tour Fresno, California
14 Aug 2008 12:00
Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre / Warped Tour Chula Vista, California
15 Aug 2008 12:00
Shoreline Amphitheatre/ Warped Tour Moutain View, California
16 Aug 2008 12:00
Sleep Train Amphitheatre Lot / Warped Tour Marysville, California
17 Aug 2008 12:00
Home Depot Center / Warped Tour Carson, California
27 Sep 2008 12:00
Schnepf Farms / EDGEFEST 2008 Phoenix, Arizona
2 Oct 2008 19:00
Time Warner Cleveland, Ohio
3 Oct 2008 19:00
The Sound Academy Toronto, Ontario
6 Oct 2008 19:00
Palladium Worcester, Massachusetts
8 Oct 2008 19:00
Cheverlot Theatre Wallingford, Connecticut
9 Oct 2008 19:00
Washington Avenue Armory Albany, New York
11 Oct 2008 19:00
Hampton Beach Casino Hampton Beach, New Hampshire
12 Oct 2008 19:00
Ram’s Head Live Baltimore, Maryland
13 Oct 2008 19:00
Roseland Ballroom New York, New York
16 Oct 2008 19:00
Electric Factory Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
19 Oct 2008 19:00
House Of Blues Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
20 Oct 2008 19:00
Tabernacle Atlanta, Georgia
21 Oct 2008 19:00
Jannus Landing Orlando, Florida
21 Oct 2008 19:00
Jannus Landing Orlando, Florida
26 Oct 2008 19:00
Austin City Music Hall Austin, Texas
27 Oct 2008 19:00
Verizon Wireless Theatre Houston, Texas
4 Nov 2008 19:00
House Of Blues Las Vegas, Nevada
8 Nov 2008 19:00
Roseland Ballroom Portland, Oregon
9 Nov 2008 19:00
Thunderbird Arena Vancouver, British Columbia
11 Nov 2008 19:00
Salt Air Salt Lake City, Utah
12 Nov 2008 19:00
The Fillmore Denver, Colorado
13 Nov 2008 19:00
The Fillmore Denver, Colorado
14 Nov 2008 19:00
Uptown Theatre Kansas City, Missouri
16 Nov 2008 19:00
The Pageant St. Louis, Missouri
17 Nov 2008 20:00
The Rave Milwaukee, Wisconsin
18 Nov 2008 19:00
The Myth Minneapolis, Minnesota
20 Nov 2008 19:00
The Congress Theatre Chicago, Illinois
22 Nov 2008 19:00
Orbit Room Grand Rapids, Michigan
23 Nov 2008 19:00
The Fillmore Detroit, Michigan

[a Nick O!]

Jul 28, 2008 12:00:54 GMT -4 halo19 said:

Okay, so RA's myspace listed the dates with Thrice and Alk3:
16 Nov 2008 19:00
The Pageant St. Louis, Missouri

As in, including this one? (I already knew Rise Against were coming, I didn't know it would be a triple threat like this. Frankly, I'm more excited about the other two.)

[halo19]

Yeah, the whole tour after the Warped dates has those. And Gaslight Anthem would be the fourth in the bill.

[a Nick O!]

Not only did I finally album rank III & IV (erroneously labeled V on the disc itself), but I ranked all four EP's against each other and made an album ranker for all 24 tracks of The Alchemy Index project.

Fire: - 4
1. The Flame Deluge
2. Firebreather
3. Burn the Fleet
4. Backdraft
5. The Arsonist
6. The Messenger

Water: - 4
1. Digital Sea
2. Open Water
3. The Whaler
4. Lost Continent
5. Night Diving
6. Kings Upon the Main

Air: - 4
1. The Sky Is Falling
2. Broken Lungs
3. Silver Wings (Would be a lot higher if it were longer.)
4. Daedalus
5. A Song for Milly Michaelson
6. As the Crow Flies

Earth: - 4
1. The Lion and the Wolf
2. Moving Mountains
3. Digging My Own Grave
4. Come All You Weary
5. The Earth Isn't Humming
6. Child of Dust (Would be a lot higher if it were longer.)

The Alchemy Index: - 4
01. The Flame Deluge
02. Firebreather
03. The Sky Is Falling
04. The Lion and the Wolf
05. Moving Mountains
06. Digital Sea
07. Broken Lungs
08. Open Water
09. The Whaler
10. Digging My Own Grave
11. Come All You Weary
12. Silver Wings
13. The Earth Isn't Humming
14. Daedalus
15. Burn the Fleet
16. A Song for Milly Michaelson
17. Lost Continent
18. Night Diving
19. Backdraft
20. Child of Dust
21. The Arsonist
22. The Messenger
23. As the Crow Flies
24. Kings Upon the Main

[halo19]

Rise Against had to cancel their shows in Austin & Houston because of McIlrath's voice, but the rest carried on. I'm glad I didn't pay my ticket online, especially since this one was only $18. The hassle was the fact that they only had tickets at the door, so there was this really big line to wait through.

I heard only one song from the Gaslight Anthem and that one in particular kind of reminded me of "Thrash Unreal" for some reason. I heard music playing beforehand but was not really inside and the line extended way beyond the small venue.

It's now been thrice times seeing Thrice (although with them that joke was probably beaten to death long ago). This was the shortest amount of songs they've played and even though they only played two more at the Brand New one that one seemed more complete. The big surprise? No "Stare at the Sun" and no "Deadbolt" (!!!).

Set list that I remember:
01. Firebreather
02. The Melting Point of Wax
03. Music Box
04. Blood Clots and Black Holes
05. The Sky Is Falling
06. Of Dust and Nations
07. The Messenger
08. Broken Lungs
09. Helter Skelter [The Beatles]
10. Betrayal Is a Symptom
11. Stand and Feel Your Worth
12. The Earth Will Shake

"Firebreather," "The Messenger" and "The Earth Will Shake" were played at all 3 shows I've seen. My first time for 2-5 & 8-10. As far as I know they haven't played any Identity Crisis in the last couple or so years, if even that.

That venue was so packed (and fairly hot) and I probably would've been infinitely more comfortable at an outdoor venue or at least a considerably bigger place if it had to be indoors. I mean, the bar and smoking area did not help for crap. Still, the set was alright even if it felt abbreviated. I was extremely glad with many of the songs they did early on. Because of the big crowd (and me being sort of short) I only was really able to see Dustin and Teppei from my view. I did go in the pit during "Betrayal" and after that where I stood kind of changed the view. I was more up front and at the left side, where I could actually at least see Eddie and realized that some of those sounds were indeed Teppei's keyboard.

I wanted to get on the Greyhound before the buses stopped running in my city, so I missed Alkaline's set. And if I'm not blind Crimson was only $5 there (though I had it). From Here to Infirmary was $10. Maybe would've picked up one if the set was good enough.
--------------
Sorry to make such a long post: I just realized more news about Thrice.

www.punknews.org/article/30829

Thrice will be releasing a new live album later this year. The record is titled Live at The House of Blues and is due out December 9, 2008. The triple-disc package features an entire live concert on two CD's plus a DVD from a May 28, 2008 show at the House of Blues in Anaheim, CA. Also included is exclusive interview footage of the band fielding fan-submitted questions.

Track listing, according to site (unclear if it's just CD or also the DVD disc):
01. The Lion & The Wolf
02. Firebreather
03. The Messenger
04. Of Dust and Nations
05. Digital Sea
06. Flags of Dawn
07. Burn The Fleet
08. Open Water
09. The Earth Isn't Humming
10. The Artist in the Ambulance
11. Trust
12. Cold Cash Colder Hearts
13. Broken Lungs
14. The Whaler
15. All That's Left
16. Silhouette
17. Come All You Weary
18. Stare at the Sun
19. Daedalus
20. Don't Tell and We Won't Ask
21. Hold Fast Hope
22. For Miles
23. Red Sky
24. Deadbolt
25. The Earth Will Shake

That's fairly akin to the set they played during the spring. But I remembered a different order (towards beginning) and never have heard "Cold Cash," "Trust," or even "Open Water" at any of the shows. I believe I heard 6, 7, 10 & 14 just at the Brand New show so there's songs they did instead that I may or may not remember off the top of my head ("Kill Me Quickly" being one).

[halo19]

Even more crazy in details to add, Dustin has a Christmas album he intends to just release online:

Dustin Kensrue Holiday Release Announced
This Good Night Is Still Everywhere out November 18 on Vagrant


(October 20, 2008) – Dustin Kensrue announces his first holiday music release, This Good Night Is Still Everywhere (Vagrant). The acoustic ten-track set includes 8 covers plus 2 original tracks and will be available at all digital retailers on November 18, 2008.

Southern California-based Kensrue released his debut solo effort, Please Come Home in 2007 and recently finished work on the new recording while on the road in his role as vocalist and guitarist for Thrice. This Good Night Is Still Everywhere was produced by Kensrue and mixed by Thrice guitarist Teppei Teranishi.

"I've been wanting to do a Christmas record since before I even thought about putting Please Come Home together," says Kensrue. "I've always loved Christmas songs and searching out different versions of my favorite songs, so it was about time to try my hand at it."


This Good Night Is Still Everywhere track listing:
1. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
2. Christmas Blues
3. Blue Christmas
4. Fairytale of New York
5. This Good Night Is Still Everywhere
6. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
7. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
8. God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
9. O Holy Night
10. This Is War

From his myspace blog.

[halo19]

I held from talking about my rankings of the album up until the proper guessing in my albums game. By now I think the Air EP bests both the Fire and Water projects. If I ranked my top artists by year they'd be on the top for me for the last three years. My main difference from your rankings is that I'm not really huge on "Mountains" but if you have the solo Dustin album the songs are a lot like that one and "Weary."

Fire: - 4.5
1. The Flame Deluge
2. Firebreather
3. Burn the Fleet
4. The Arsonist
5. The Messenger
6. Backdraft

Water: - 4.5
1. Digital Sea
2. The Whaler
3. Night Diving
4. Lost Continent
5. Open Water
6. Kings Upon the Main

Air: - 5
1. Daedalus
2. The Sky Is Falling (Hot QOTSA remake!)
3. Silver Wings
4. Broken Lungs
5. A Song for Milly Michaelson
6. As the Crow Flies

Earth: - 4.5
1. The Earth Isn't Humming
2. The Lion and the Wolf
3. Digging My Own Grave
4. Come All You Weary
5. Child of Dust
6. Moving Mountains

The Alchemy Index: - 4.5; borders the 5 rating.
01. Digital Sea
02. Daedalus
03. The Flame Deluge
04. The Sky Is Falling
05. The Whaler
06. The Earth Isn't Humming
07. Firebreather
08. The Lion and the Wolf
09. Silver Wings
10. Broken Lungs
11. Night Diving
12. Digging My Own Grave
13. Burn the Fleet
14. Come All You Weary
15. The Arsonist
16. A Song for Milly Michaelson
17. Lost Continent
18. As the Crow Flies
19. The Messenger
20. Open Water
21. Child of Dust
22. Backdraft
23. Kings Upon the Main
24. Moving Mountains

Expect to see most of these entries on my 2008 year-end chart. I think I'm going to combine "Crow" and "Wings" together since both songs total in at about four minutes anyway. Of the three times I saw 'em I didn't hear 3, 9, 11, 12, 14-18 & 20-24.

[a Nick O!]

Quoth Jeremy Davis, Paramore's bassist:
"My favorite [album of 2008] was The Alchemy Index by Thrice. They came out with basically four different EPs, and they're all amazing. Some of my favorite records of all time, to be honest."

I had to look him up in Wikipedia to see what his role was in Paramore. First, I tried to find out in the liner notes of Riot!, but if who does what is listed anywhere in there, it's very difficult to find, as the liner notes are "hand-"scrawled randomly all over 2 pages of the booklet.

But nevertheless, I came across something I never noticed before (and obviously never noticed in the song):

"Born for This" contains elements of "Liberation Frequency" by D. Sandstrom, D. Lyxzen, K. Steen, J. Brannstrom. [collectively known as Refused --Nick] Songs and Stories Publishing (STIM). All rights administered by WB Music Corp. (ASCAP). All Rights Reserved.

Upon listening to "Born for This" again, I correctly guessed the part that was lifted was the two times Hayley coos "We want the airwaves back" (with all bass EQ'd out of her voice) when the instrumentation drops out at the end of both pre-choruses. (I then listened to "Liberation Frequency" to confirm this.)

Forgive me for not remembering "Liberation Frequency." It's been 2 years since I last listened to The Shape of Punk to Come and it's never been an album I play often other than a few songs to begin with.