Of all the things that have been studied, one doesn’t see much in science pertaining to the development of music in relation to the development of a human being. As silly a claim it may sound, bands like Thrice almost seem to follow such a pattern; albums like The Illusion of Safety resembling early adolescence, The Artist In the Ambulance as later adolescence, Vheissu as young adulthood, and The Alchemy Index as later adulthood. Though this phenomenon isn’t limited to Thrice alone, the band’s career is very human in this sense, as a result of its natural and logical progression, in which the music matures as the band matures.
However, 2009 seems to mark a break in the pattern, as Beggars is anything but natural. In fact, throughout its forty-plus minutes of music, everything seems so forced, that even a middle-aged celibate would cringe from the tension. Explicitly one of the record’s highlights, the Air-esque “Circles”, insists on a post-rock sound that just won’t work, stretching to four minutes of senseless atmospherics (if one can even call it that). However, despite the style of the latter track, the bulk of Beggars seems to beg for a mainstream indie rock vibe (“Doublespeak” almost has a certain playfulness to it). One should should not doubt the band’s musicianship over these factors, as it is a direction Thrice have seldom taken, very unlike the mellow and epic mold their music usually follows. It simply sounds dishonest and uninspired – as if they were held at gunpoint, and forced to write the album as they did.
Beggars also seems to lack the dynamic structure that the band’s music is known for. This is interesting, considering the band themselves cited the album as a more “energetic” release. But it isn’t energy that is particularly lacking; there is a considerable amount, but it’s how it is utilized in the song structure. For instance, Thrice have always exemplified a great amount of skill in building powerful choruses (and climaxes in general), which can be seen with songs like “The Earth Will Shake” on Vheissu, or “Daedalus” on The Alchemy Index. However, they seem to struggle with this on Beggars, with songs like “The Weight” and “In Exile”, sounding so passionless in comparison to the former tracks. Dustin Kensrue has a stunning voice, and normally, he and Teppei Teranishi never cease to make it shine, but their latest effort is quite vocally underwhelming, as Dustin hardly gets a chance to use his voice to its full potential.
It’s difficult to find anything good about this record, especially when comparing it to masterpieces like The Artist in the Ambulance and Vheissu. One has to admire Thrice’s determination with writing a seemingly different record each time around, but perhaps it would be wiser for the band to spend more time on their writing and recording (considering the last The Alchemy Index came out only last year) rather than rush into releasing something so sub-par in an otherwise flawless discography. If Beggars is to resemble anything in the band’s development, it would definitely be a mid-life crisis.
(4.0/10)
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