Bands that combine genres usually do nothing but take formulaic song structures from two types of music and combine them to form something terrible -- think Limp Bizkit -- but Thrice is an exception to this stereotype, delivering a solid album that successfully mates melodic poppy punk with the fury of heavy metal. From start to finish, "The Artist in the Ambulance," bounces between bone crushing guitar riffs and pop punk hooks in a manner that is as close to seamless as possible given the obvious differences in musical styles.
But finding this style took the band time, judging from their previous records. Thrice's previous release, "The Illusion of Safety," seemed to lack discipline and maturity, with songs that haphazardly jumped between metal and punk without appropriate transitions. While "The Illusion of Safety" did offer some stellar songs like "Kill me Quickly" and "A Subtle Dagger," the majority of the album unfortunately suffered from Limp Bizkit syndrome.
This time around, the Thrice fellas decided to trade their flashy harmonized licks for more atmospheric guitar-play. Instead of blazing through a solo harmonized in glorious thirds, like on "Safety," guitarists Dustin Kensrue and Teppei Taranishi use more creative intervals and rhythmic variations to achieve darker and more interesting riffs. In the sixth song, "Paper Tigers," the end of each measure of the verse is concluded with a spacey guitar line that haunts the listener. The guitar then jumps back into the chugga-chugga guitar triplets that match drummer Riley Breckenridge's aggressive double bass driven beat.
Vocally, the album contains both singing and screaming, but some of the most effective moments are when singer/guitarist Dustin Kensrue straddles the line between carrying his melody and bursting into a piercing yell. The half-scream, half-sing vocals are reminiscent of the newest releases by Rise Against and Flying Triceratops.
While choosing the best song on a record this solid is not easy, I stand beside my selection of the tenth track, which happens to be the title track, followed closely by "Cold Cash and Colder Hearts," and "Silhouette." The so-called single, "All That's Left," is also very good, but I unfortunately saw the video so many times on Fuse before the album came out that I need to take some time away from that song. Stupid Fuse.
The title track begins with only vocals and palm-muted power chords. After cycling through a stripped down version of the verse, the rest of the band comes in and increases the intensity. The half-time chorus slows down the pace and allows the listener to focus on the simple yet effective and highly original melody. Compared to the rest of the album, the songs I like the best are actually the simplest. This is not to say that the more complex songs are not as good, but the simple songs allow the album to breathe. By occasionally stepping back and letting the melodies stand on their own, the band can better showcase their chops on further songs. Thrice has learned that an album does not have to wail at 110 percent at all moments to show the band has talent.
As far as Thrice's rhythm section goes, tightness is the name of the game. Brothers Eddie and Riley Breckenridge stand on the cutting edge of hardcore punk drumming and bass playing. All of Eddie's bass lines perfectly fit with the drums, and that can't be an easy task when considering the advanced rhythmic maneuvers that Riley pulls off with ease. A few of the rhythmic changes are slightly goofy; in the breakdown in "Blood Clots and Black Holes," the band engages in a measure of five, then six, and then seven before returning to the verse which contains eight beats a measure.
But overall, the good songwriting outweighs the occasional silly drum fill, and "The Artist in the Ambulance" is quite enjoyable. Thrice deserves three cheers for taking a gimmicky musical consummation and making it sound honest. Hip hip hooray.
4 stars
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