Working here at The Syndicate definitely has its advantages – hearing new music first, free CDs, tickets…you rarely hear complaints about these perks.

The other day, our management department played three new tracks from THURSDAY to the office. Score! As a Jersey kid who’s resided in New Brunswick for the last 10+ years, I’m always down to hear me some Thursday songs. Management had just picked up new tracks that the guys are currently prepping for their new DVD/CD release due out at the end of October on Victory records.

I asked if it was okay to do small write-ups of the three songs I heard. Given a few stipulations – like I can’t name who the special guest is on one of the tracks – but trust me, it’s a good one! You will have to wait for that.

The entire office gathered in the conference room for 15 minutes of some new jams! We were relayed some stories behind each of the songs as well as what we can expect on the actual release. It seems they are still kicking around ideas as to what exactly will end up on the cd but these three songs will definitely be there.

So here they are (with actual titles no less).

Song #1 – “Ladies and Gentlemen: My Brother, the Failure”
Beginning with some HUGE riffs, probably the best ones they have ever come up with. If I had to compare it to another Thursday song, it has the vibe of “Jet Black New Year” even with a quieter part in the middle before it all blows up all over the damn place. I was told it was written with the vocals of Keith Buckley (Every Time I Die) in mind. Keith is not on the song (couldn’t work out studio timing), but Geoff does a bit of imitation of him during one part. On this track, the other secret guest vocalist interacts with Geoff calling back to things he’s singing, with possibly the best line being “Cover foe me while I sort out some shit”. The song ends with the best showcasing of Andrew’s keyboards of the new tracks.

Song #2 – “Dead Songs”
To me this is classic Thursday beginning, getting to the point fast and furious. I was told they were a bit angry the day they wrote it, I don’t know about what but they put it all into the song and it rips! Another call and response with some great lyrics from Geoff, “Nothing Hurts!…Nothing Moves!…Nothing Matters!”, and “Colors fade away…The world is black and white”. The song then breaks into a great bass riff. This track then builds up to a dizzying and sudden stop! Awesome!

Song #3 – “Voices on a String”
It starts off with a pretty badass bass line, in fact it’s one of the best bass riffs I’ve heard in a while. The first part of the song definitely reminds me of the progression the band has made over the years. There’s definitely a “Counting 5-4-3-2-1″ vibe to it with a great sing along chorus of “In and out of love”. It’s heavy and it’s awesome, it’s Thursday. I like the mix of the old and the new styles. People are going to be psyched to hear this one live.

Overall, the songs rip! You can hear the progression of the band even since the last record. The three tracks have more of that classic Thursday “screaming” but laid over the mature music writing of the later records. There’s definitely a dark edge to the songs, it’s great to hear.

The instrumentation is a tight as ever, Steve and Tom on the dueling guitars and heavy riffs are incredible. The rhythm section is also as bombast as they could be. Many times in the notes I found myself writing things like “stomping! blasts! and bombastic!” (hey they were just quick notes for myself, Thursday rests for no man). Also Geoff sounds as strong as ever vocally and lyrically, no punches were pulled. People are going to love screaming along. There’s definitely keyboards, the best part about the addition of Andrew to the band is that he helps enhance the overall sound. Something he did so well on A City By The Light Divided and continues to do on these three tracks.

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