Thrice

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Thrice
Background information
Origin Irvine, California
Genre(s) Post Hardcore
Experimental
Years active 1998—present
Label(s) Island Records
Sub City Records(2000-2002)
Members
Dustin Kensrue
Teppei Teranishi
Eddie Breckenridge
Riley Breckenridge
This article is about the band "Thrice". For other meanings, see Wiktionary:thrice.

Thrice is an American experimental post-hardcore/punk rock band that formed in Irvine, California in 1998.

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early Days

In 1999, Thrice self-released an EP called First Impressions (EP). Only 1,000 copies were made and sold out of their cars.

In 2000, Thrice signed-up with Sub City Records and released two albums. The first, Identity Crisis (2000), only received 1.5 stars in the AMG review and generated little buzz in the music community. The second, The Illusion of Safety (2002), was widely acclaimed and received attention from major record labels. Even though Thrice's music through the years always included some metal influences, The Illusion of Safety contains a heavier metalcore sound than the rest of their records. The Illusion of Safety was recorded in Beltsville, Maryland - reflected by the track "The Beltsville Crucible".

[edit] Thrice and Island Records

In 2003, Thrice signed up with Island Records and released The Artist in the Ambulance, which featured more structured songs while keeping true to their hardcore influences. This album truly shoved Thrice into mainstream success. The band's recent work has noticeably diverged from its metal and hardcore roots. In 2005 a DVD outlining their entire career thus far was released under the title If We Could Only See Us Now. The package was named after a lyric from So Strange I Remember You, a song from Thrice's early punk days that was later redone by the band to reflect their matured sound. It included a CD with live tracks from the Apple Store and various B-sides.

Thrice released their fourth full-length album, Vheissu, on October 18, 2005. Vheissu features a departure from their previous sound by introducing electronics and new instruments ― namely a Rhodes Piano ― that they hadn't used before this album. The album has less of a metal/hardcore style of guitar playing and more variation in the vocals. The album as a whole is very emotional and haunting in both its message and its harmonies. Vheissu is hailed by critics as far more mature album than Thrice's previous records. Many of its lyrics reflect Biblical, Christian and spiritual themes (See "Themes In Music" section).

The band released "Red Sky" on March 17, 2006 as their second single from Vheissu, following "Image of the Invisible". The video was directed by Tim Hope (Coldplay - "Trouble", Jimmy Eat World - "Sweetness").

[edit] New Album (2007)

Thrice is currently writing and recording new material for their upcoming four disc release. Each disc will represent the four elements: earth, wind, fire and water. According to an MTV interview, there will be around 25 songs. The band is recording the album during the fall of 2006 and plans to release it by the spring of 2007.

Here's the official announcement that the band posted on MySpace:

"As a lot of you may know, for the past month or so, we've been writing and recording our next album. We didn't want to say anything official until we'd finalized a lot of the details, but now that were getting rolling on it, we want you guys to be the first to know what our plans for this record are.

We have started writing and recording a 4 disc concept record, with each disc being themed sonically and thematically to correspond with the four natural elements - Earth, Air, Water and Fire. The final album will have somewhere between 20 and 25 songs, divided between the 4 discs.

We are approaching the whole project in a new way for us, both writing and recording. Writing with these elements in mind, we are letting them shape the direction of the songs sonically and thematically. And for the first time, were recording the record ourselves as we write it, freeing us up to change things as we go.

We are very excited about the project and are looking forward to sharing more details as the record takes shape. Were also in the process of setting up a site dedicated to keeping you up to date on our progress, so keep a look out for that in the near future."

The band recently played a new song called "Come All You Weary" at Bamboozle which is rumored to be from the Earth album. Videos of the performance can be found on YouTube (Version 1. Version 2.) According to their website, this song is the only song from the earth cd that has a full drum kit or any instrument that isn't acoustic.

On October 20, 2006, Dustin Kensrue posted the following update on the band's studio journal site, Alchemy Index:

"We sat down a couple weeks ago and made a rough timeline so that we wouldn’t find ourselves putting this out next winter instead of late spring/early summer. The plan is to record at least 75% of each disc at a time, and then have time to come back and re-evaluate, start mixing, and tie up any loose ends. Right now we have done a large amount of the Air disc and have just started up on Earth, which we’ve given ourselves only to the end of next week since we want it to have a pretty stripped down vibe and we don’t want to have time to over- think it. We moved the recording gear into an empty living room with hardwood floors and are recording the whole earth disc in here which is sounding very cool."

[edit] Themes in Music

Songs such as "Of Dust and Nations,"[1] "Like Moths to Flames," "For Miles," [2] and "Hold Fast Hope" have biblical quotations or themes.

To quote Dustin's words on the Vheissu special edition book:

"These are some of my favorite lyrics on the record. The song ["Hold Fast Hope"] in general was probably most inspired by the chapter in the book called 'The Sermon,' which is a retelling of the story of Jonah, and is in my opinion the best part of the book, coupled with the previous chapter, 'The Pulpit.' I'm a real nerd for alliteration and this song is saturated with it..."

Many track titles and lyrical themes are based on books the band has read, such as C.S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man and That Hideous Strength, as well as Thomas Pynchon's V. and Herman Melville's Moby Dick.

[edit] Group members

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] DVDs

[edit] Compilations

  • Atticus: ...Dragging The Lake II (2003 Side One Dummy Records)
    • "To Awake and Avenge The Dead" (from The Illusion of Safety)
  • Hopelessly Devoted To You Vol. 4
    • "That Hideous Strength"
  • Resident Evil: Apocalypse Soundtrack (2004 Roadrunner Records)
    • "Under A Killing Moon" (from The Artist in the Ambulance)
  • Operation: Punk Rock Freedom (2003 Hopeless/Subcity Records)
    • "To Awake and Avenge The Dead" (from The Illusion of Safety)
    • "As The Ruin Falls" (from Identity Crisis)

[edit] Trivia

  • Dustin Kensrue is currently recording a solo album (due out January 23rd, 2007) with Equal Vision Records and has produced the album himself with the help of Thrice guitarist Teppei Teranishi.
  • Teppei Teranishi is in a side project with Chris Jones called Black Unicorn.
  • Thrice's members have known each other since high school.
  • The band suppors numerous non-profit acts and charities including Invisible Children, The Syrentha J. Savio Foundation, 826 Valencia, A Place Called Home, and Crittenton Services for Women and Children.
  • "All That's Left" is featured in EA's Madden NFL 2004.
  • Thrice once played their song, "A Torch To End All Torches" from Identity Crisis at twice the speed as usual, and released it as an 'MP3 of the week,' under the name 'A Turbo Torch To End All Torches.' This can be downloaded for free from http://www.waterispoison.com .
  • "Stare at the Sun" is featured in the soundtrack for SSX 3.
  • "Image of the Invisible" is featured in the soundtrack for Tony Hawk's American Wasteland. Thrice also covered the songs "Seeing Red" and "Screaming at a Wall" (both originally by Minor Threat) for the soundtrack. However, they combined the two songs to create one song ("Seeing Red/Screaming at a Wall").
  • "Lullaby" is featured in the soundtrack for Burnout Revenge.
  • The song entitled "The Belltsville Crucible" was created to pay homage to the making of the "Illusion of Safety" album. Contained within the lyrics are many personal lines and references.
  • There are Thrice stickers visible throughout random episodes of the show It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
  • One of Dustin's favorite video game series is the Splinter Cell series, and it inspired the "Image of the Invisible" music video.
  • Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance helped film and direct the "Image of the Invisible" music video.
  • They are (in fact) a christian band in the manner that biblical stories affect their lyrics and they have extremely christian lyrics. Example: "We are the image of the invisible... we all were lost now we are found."
  • The title track from the album The Artist in the Ambulance was written fully by drummer Riley Breckenridge.

[edit] External links

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