Another punk band bursting out of Orange County, Thrice segregate themselves from the monotonous throng of pop lightweights overwhelming the SoCal scene by delivering some much needed meaty hardcore musicianship and potent lyrics.
Bringing that furious sound of their debut Identity Crisis to the stage of Anaheim’s House of Blues recently (8/9), the foursome performed before a sold out hometown crowd with metal-crushing vigor.
“It was really, really fun,” said breathless frontman and songwriter Dustin Kensrue backstage after the gig in an exclusive interview with Virginmega.com. “The kids were going crazy and we played almost all of our first record and six new songs.” Kicking off with “Phoenix Ignition” and “To What End,” two of Identity Crisis’ highlights and most hardhitting numbers, the show also featured new songs “Subtle Dagger,” “To Awake and Arise the Dead” and closed with “That Hideous Strength,” a song titled after a C.S. Lewis book. “It’s about people being blinded and deafened to listening to new ideas because of truths they’ve been engrained with that they’ve never questioned,” says the singer explaining the meaning behind the closing song, which will be featured on the band’s upcoming record.
With their sophomore album, titled Illusion of Safety, slated for release on Sub City Records on Feb 5th, Thrice are firing out heavy punk with the aggressiveness of death metal (“A Torch to End All Torches”) while still maintaining singable choruses, making a noteworth punk package. “Happy, dark and melodic” is how Kensrue defines Thrice’s sound, continuing, “There’s a lot of harmony.” And, he admits, the winter 15-track release will be even darker with “a whole mortality theme.”
“It just kind of goes with the title Illusion of Safety,” muses Kensrue describing the feel of the new record. “People just kind of float by life and don’t really question what’s going on and I don’t think that’s a very smart way to live. So I’m just kind of trying to expose people to thinking about that.”
Following a stint on this summer’s Warped Tour, Thrice have been exposing those thoughts and instrumental lashings (drummer Riley Breckenridge can whip out some back breaking beats) to a growing audience keen on their commanding delivery. Though their upcoming album hits early 2002, the band will be touring for charity on the Plea For Peace-Take Action Tour followed by another fall outing.