Thrice are supposed to be punk — or at least post-hardcore, a genre derived from hardcore punk — but it’s as much like punk as a marmoset is a halibut. This is pure rock and singer Dustin Kensrue has a powerful voice, not unlike Chris Cornell; in fact, in places this is more like Audioslave than anything. Incubus must also be a comparison.

Thrice have been going since 1998. We’ve not heard of them before but the internet reports that, early doors, they were known for fast and hard rock, and for complex time signatures. Whatever they’ve been in the past, this album is hard rock yet melodic, keeping some of the complexity referred to.

Opener Only Us is a big bass-y song with an Incubus-style chorus whereas track two, The Grey, a former single, is more powerful, too complex for straight rock but too hard and fast for anything like prog, slowing down for an arms-in-the-air chorus.

The Dark is similar to the opener, a rhythm-led tune, slower and with a big chorus that gets more and more massive. Just Breathe is a more routine rock track albeit with some busy bass work, while Everything Belongs is a piano-led ballad, followed by the slow and bluesy My Soul. This mid-album hiatus is followed by the louder A Branch In The River, which verges on screamo (but doesn’t) and we guess is more like that early sound. The chorus has the kind of melody that Sum 41 might have produced in their heyday.

This is a solid rock album with precious little filler. All lovers of the loud but melodic should find something here. Every album released by Thrice has had a portion of its sales proceeds donated to a new charitable organisation, reports Wikipedia.

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