Post by ||teh {(mirage)} o doom. on Nov 20, 2007 19:09:00 GMT -5
Thursday is a Post-hardcore band from Dumont, New Jersey that has released four full-length albums.
History
[edit] Formation and Waiting
Main article: Waiting (Thursday album)
Thursday was formed in 1997 by vocalist Geoff Rickly, guitarist Tom Keeley, guitarist Bill Henderson, bassist Tim Payne, and drummer Tucker Rule. Keeley recounts foundation of the band:
“ Tucker and I used to get together on weekends when we didn't have school and just kind of kick around little two minute hardcore songs on our really crappy equipment. We'd hang out in his attic, and just try really hard to fool ourselves into thinking we were good. I guess we did that for like four months and actually started learning how to play our instruments. Right around that time I met Geoff at an Ink and Dagger show, and asked him if he wanted to come to the "practices" and work on lyrics. Tim, I met in a figure drawing class. For a while my other friend from high school, Bill played with us..we recorded Waiting with him. After a while he realized that he was not going to be able to commit to touring because of school, and through a mutual friend of all of ours we met Steve. ”
The band began playing basement shows in New Brunswick and surrounding New Jersey and New York areas. The band played their first official show on December 31, 1998 in Rickly's basement alongside Midtown, Saves the Day and Poison the Well.
They recorded demos to hand out at shows, and in the summer of 1999, they teamed up with MP3.com for their first official release, the 1999 Summer Tour EP, which featured demos of songs that would be soon be found on their debut album, Waiting, released January 18, 2000, on northern New Jersey-based Eyeball Records without any singles nor radio or television support.
[edit] Full Collapse - Jet Black New Year
Main article: Full Collapse
Hesitant to join a larger label, but with full support from Eyeball Records, Thursday signed to Chicago-based label Victory Records and released Full Collapse on April 10, 2001, without much radio or television support, but in a way that the band had not originally intended. Victory Records originally wanted to removed the lyrics from the packaging against the bands wishes in order to cut costs, but the released LP has all lyrics and minimal artwork, a rare thing for the band.
Thursday toured in support of the album, including a tour with Saves The Day that caught the attention of Victory Records. Victory Records filmed a music video for "Understanding In A Car Crash" consisting of live footage of the band and marketed the song as the band's first single, without the bands authorization. The song gained the band a large underground following. A second single, "Cross Out The Eyes", would follow, but it received much less attention.
Thursday was routinely upset at Victory Records over the use of the band's image and promotion, including the label's attempts to distribute Thursday-themed whoopie cushions. The band's newfound popularity and disgust with the label led to internal problems that bred the Five Stories Falling EP, a release the band used to fulfill contractual obligations with Victory Records. At live shows, the band routinely told fans not to purchase the EP, but instead to download "Jet Black New Year", the one new song found on the EP amidst live performances of four Full Collapse songs and the first song created since Full Collapse, a time during which the band almost broke up. Jet Black New Year, the only studio track on Five Stories Falling, showed a darker side of the band that was only hinted at on Full Collapse.
After the release of Full Collapse, many bands followed in Thursday's footsteps by creating sounds that emphasized the singing of post-hardcore.
[edit] War All the Time - Hiatus
Main article: War All The Time (Thursday album)
Having parted ways with Victory Records and joining Island Records, Thursday issued their major label debut, the critically acclaimed War All the Time on September 16, 2003. The entire writing and recording process took only six months; the band has claimed they almost forced themselves into a contained sound on the album. The album's title, coupled with it being released approximately two years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, led many critics to believe it was a political album; however, Rickly has denied this on many accounts, instead claiming that he is speaking about love being a war. War All the Time features Andrew Everding on keyboards, though he would not become an official member of the band until December 26, 2003, when he was officially welcomed into the band at the band's Christmas holiday shows held at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey.
War All The Time spawned two singles, "Signals Over The Air" and "War All The Time", though the latter received considerably less attention due to MTV banning the video for controversial material involving a fake news feed that appeared to be real and teenagers being weapon targets.
Thursday toured extensively to support War All the Time through many dates with acts such as AFI, Thrice, and Coheed and Cambria. On these tours, Thursday performed many in-store acoustic sessions at various Tower Records stores and other record stores. The band also recorded a live acoustic session for Y100 Sonic Sessions, a radio program on the now defunct Philadelphia-based radio station, Y100. The live acoustic version of single "Signals Over The Air" was used on Y100 Sonic Sessions Volume 8.
Following War All The Time, the band released two EPs. The first was Live From The SoHo & Santa Monica Stores Split EP and sold exclusively on iTunes; the second was a promotion found in Revolver Magazine, Live In Detroit EP.
The band went on an indefinite hiatus in 2004 but returned once again for a charitable cause to save New York City's CBGB, on August 25, 2005. This performance was streamed live through the CBGB's website. At this show they performed two new songs that wouldn't end up on A City By The Light Divided. One is yet to be released, while the other is featured on the upcoming release Kill The House Lights. It is entitled "Dead Songs", and while the song itself is pretty much the same, the lyrics are dramatically different in each version.
[edit] A City By The Light Divided
Main article: A City By The Light Divided
Audio samples:
"Counting 5-4-3-2-1" (2006)
The first single from A City By The Light Divided.
Problems playing the files? See media help.
In Fall 2005, five Thursday demo songs were stolen from My American Heart's tour manager's iPod. Rickly had recently collaborated with My American Heart for the track "We Are The Fabrication". The band issued a statement on their official website stating that they were disappointed the unfinished products leaked, but that they were glad that people take that much interest in their music. The band confirmed the title of one demo, "At This Velocity" and promised it would make their upcoming album. Three other songs ("The Other Side Of The Crash/Over And Out (Of Control)", "Telegraph Avenue Kiss", and "Autumn Leaves Revisited") would also make the album; the demo versions of these songs are quite different.
Thursday originally toyed with the idea of double album to follow up War All The Time, but scrapped that idea, reporting on their website that not even The Beatles could properly fill two discs with enough worthy material.
Dave Fridmann-produced A City by the Light Divided followed War All the Time and is Thursday's first full-length album not produced by Sal Villanueva. The title is influenced by a poem from Octavio Paz--Rickly combined two lines from one of his poems to create the title. The album was officially previewed on the band's MySpace on April 18, 2006, and officially released May 2 on Island Records in American and Hassle Records in the UK.
A City by the Light Divided was generally received well by critics, and spawned two singles, "Counting 5-4-3-2-1" and "At This Velocity", though the latter received considerably less attention.
The band parted ways with Island Records in early 2007 and canceled tour plans for the rest of the year. Aside from a private show on May 3, 2007 in New York, NY, that allowed longtime friend "theRev" to propose to his fiancee on stage, the band did play May 5, at The Bamboozle under the fake name Bearfort, and performed their last public show of the year in California, PA on May 7.
Thursday is set to release the live Kill The House Lights on 2007-10-30 through former record label, Victory Records. The band will also be touring in November with Circle Takes the Square and Portugal. The Man in support of this release.
[edit] Kill The House Lights
Main article: Kill The House Lights
Thursday filmed their show 2006-12-27 at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ and also their smaller, more intimate show at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ the next day. Footage from this will appear on Kill The House Lights, a retrospective DVD/CD to be released on Victory Records 2007-10-30. The package will contain unreleased studio tracks and live material.
[edit] Logo
Thursday's Dove logoThursday uses the dove logo on their albums and merchandise. The dove is believed to have been conceived by Tom Keeley on a tour bus sometime before Full Collapse was recorded.
Lyrics from "Cross Out The Eyes" find the band referencing the dove:
“ We can rise on the wings of the dove
See blue skies getting caught in the trail of all this smoke We can rise like candles in the dark Yours always,"
”
As well as
“ "...And the mourning dove gets caught in the telephone wire." ”
It is unknown whether these lyrics were inspired by the dove art or if the dove was inspired by Rickly's lyrics. Since the dove's conception, however, it appears on every disc that Thursday has released in some form, though it is not mentioned lyrically aside from "Cross Out The Eyes".
The band also has adopted a new logo--a red bullseye with a small "v" below it-- for A City By The Light Divided. This logo appeared on merchandise related to the album, and is seen faded in the background of the cover for Kill the House Lights.
[edit] Members
[edit] Current
Geoff Rickly - Vocals, Lyrics
Tom Keeley - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Steve Pedulla - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Tim Payne - Bass
Tucker Rule - Drums
Andrew Everding - Keyboard, Synthesizer, Backing Vocals
[edit] Former
Bill Henderson – guitar, backup vocals (Waiting)
wikipedia.org
