Review
Thursday
No Devolución

It’s comforting when a band can successfully progress. Some stay stagnant—resulting in some stale and boring music. Thursday’s a band that has been progressing since they started writing Full Collapse. Slowly, they’ve been redefining what Thursday should sound like. With their sixth studio album, No Devolución, not only has the band’s songwriting gotten even better, but they’ve taken their biggest step forward yet.

Loud beats and piercing guitars kick things off on “Fast to the End,” which sets up the album perfectly. The band’s gracious enough to give their fans enough of what we’ve come to expect from Thursday--while wetting our appetites with what we can expect from No Devolución. They pull pointers from their past few efforts, and make the atmospheric effects more prominent this time around. Following the impetuous opener is “No Answers.” Andrew Everding sets a dark tone with his keys as it turns into a beautiful, but haunting, tune enhanced by Rickly’s airy vocals. On “A Darker Forest,” the band keeps with the eerie atmosphere set forth in the last track. Then as was hinted from the past few songs, Rickly continues to exchange his signature intense yelling for a much more relaxed vocal performance—a trait that will reign for the rest of the album. Moving on, we get to one of the most well written songs on the album, “Sparks Against the Sun.” Tucker Rule really stands out as he quakes through the song, which makes for a more robust track. Andrew also trades his usual synthesized tone for a piano, and it adds a real enchanting element.

The following, fast-paced, number features the only blemish I have to complain about on this record. Thursday rips through “Open Quotes” with such energy during the verse—throwing in stops and fills. When the tempo changes for the chorus, Rickly lets out a resounding “go”—and eventually, “no”--that’s reminiscent of Darth Vader’s in Episode III. I know it’s trivial, but damn does it sound off. Other than that, the song is excellent and closes with a thundering outro. We’re then taken into “Past and Future Ruins,” which almost sounds like it could have fit on Common Existence. It’s one of the heavier tracks on the album and will warm the hearts of fans who haven’t been enjoying Thursday’s new direction.

The second half of the album opens with “Magnets Caught in a Metal Heart.” It’s a poppier number, but it flows very well in the context of the album. You could say the next track, “Empty Glass,” is the “Time’s Arrow” or “This Song Brought…” of the record. Rickly sings along to a organ with a chord progression similar to the end of AFI’s, “The Interview,” before Rule comes in to bring the song to a close. This leads us into the boisterous “A Gun in the First Act.” Following is the shortest track on the record, “Millimeter.” Although it’s not a bad song—there’s not a single bad song on No Devolución—it seems a bit forgettable and arguably the weakest. “Turnpike Divides,” on the other hand, wakes you up in classic-Thursday fashion. Payne gets his chance to shine on this one with a blistering riff as he takes you into the best chorus No Devolución has to offer. Finally, we reach the closer, “Stay True.” This song was meant for Common Existence but was passed over for “You Were The Cancer.” It came about from the band just jamming it out at warm-ups. After several takes, they landed on this magnificent eight minute piece. The first few minutes are elegant and moving, and then around the three minute mark it takes this darker turn. It begins to build as Rickly urges you to stick to your beliefs and stand by your friends before its blaring climax.

It may not be like those two fan favorites, but it’s definitely some of the best music Thursday has ever written. Not to mention it only took them seven days! It’ll be unfortunate if No Devolución doesn’t get as much recognition because it deserves it. The band has matured into excellent songwriters. It’ll be interesting to see where they go from here.