Thursday

Building on the power of their Island debut War All the Time, Thursday further their development as one of the most interesting post-emo bands out there today with the unique and powerful A City by the Light Divided. Finally breaking free of the all-too-commercial production work of nu-emo favourite Sal Villanueva, the band have found new sonic life with the spacious work of producer Dave Fridmann, whose experience with such groups as Sigur Rós and Mogwai is apparent on such haunting tracks as "Running from the Rain” and "Autumn Leaves Revisited.” Without reinventing the emo wheel, Thursday have managed to push their sound into darker, more expansive musical waters, carrying with them all the drive and urgency which brought them to popularity with 2001’s Full Collapse. The key to this record is the countless tiny moments of startling musical left turns, from brief piano breakdowns that return to crashing guitar crescendos to distorted drum breaks that fall into the middle of song and disappear just as quickly. Lacking an individual standout track the way their previous records have, A City by the Light Divided is still possibly the most powerful and complete-sounding work of the band’s career.