Thursday/Envy

Wouldn't it be nice if after Nailbomb, which was really tough to get into but turned out to be a completely unchallenging listen, we had an album that seemed innocuous but turned out to be way more than we bargained for? I can't promise this Thursday/Envy split will be that, but the cover seems to be a tornado of birds attacking a farmhouse. Then instead of track lists we get descriptions of each side. 

Welp, i was wrong, those are apparently the track titles. And the lyrics are printed in both Japanese and English. Oh, ok, Thursday was one of the early Post-Hardcore/Emo bands and Envy is a Japanese Post-Hardcore band. Makes sense now. Thursday had a not that good relationship with their label Victory from their second album onward. I won't recount all the garbage, but the Thursday branded whoopie cushions Victory planned to sell on the Warped Tour is a pretty notable story. They had no idea what they were getting into when they moved up to Def Jam/Island, but once the deal was done they realized their new job was to pay back the $1.2 million it cost Def Jam to buy out their contract. Eventually they moved to Epitaph, but had a long run of touring and breaking up and reuniting and so on. They're still going, just as more of a sporadic enterprise. Their side is quite good though. It sounds like MCR, Taking Back Sunday, et al. because that's exactly what it is. 

The Envy side though is really intriguing. The almost Lofi dreamy intro gives way to full on crash bang Screamo with a surprisingly high level of harmonic and rhythmic complexity. And a string orchestra underneath it all, the feeling is one of an epicly heartbreaking journey. 

It's certainly easy to get lost in the lush orchestrations and meandering melodies from both bands. This is an album that welcomes and warrants repeated listening. It's lyrically obtuse enough to keep you engaged without feeling like you're just being talked at but not actually participating in the conversation. It's more like listening to a friend try to grapple with some idea much bigger than words can convey. 

The only bad thing is that the inner sleeve is way too small for the record, so you're going to rub/scratch the crap out of it if you keep trying to pry it out and jam it back in. Otherwise it's lovely. If you like Dark Emo as much as i do, check out both bands. Even if you don't speak Japanese, the Evy side is more than approachable from the vivid translations and well constructed sonic emotions. 

I'd say we lucked out. It is an easy to enjoy experience that will not doubt get more and more fascinating and complex the deeper you dive into the listening. Good stuff for a foggy winter Sunday morning. Maybe a bit SadBoi, but after Nailbomb pretty much anything is gonna feel a bit on the softer side, even burning mountains and anthropomorphic umbrellas.