I first became aware of this band around 2004 with the release of THE ARTIST & THE AMBULANCE. It was a stunning discovery which led me to acquiring THE ILLUSION OF SAFETY, and their debut record IDENTITY CRISIS.

But nothing on those albums however prepared me for this one. It’s fair to say that the music world has spun around to bring the band en vogue, with the success of Green Day, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, etc. that put the emphasis on alternative in the mainstream. It’s also been quite some time since the cover stars of the alternative magazines and those same acts being played on alternative radio have broken out, and the reason is obvious - downloading is the ‘New’ Punk Rock, kids sending each other stuff with the words, ‘Check this out.’ Once that happens, the follow-up mail normally reads, ‘if you thought that was good, wait ‘till you hear this,’ and attached is more from the artist alongside other good shit. Bands like Thrice have benefited from a global underground that is ‘checking out’ new music, because it simply can. Make no mistake, we are living in the ‘future, now’ and this record is one of its soundtracks.

When you have an album chocker full of great songs such as this one, it can’t fail. From the alternative club floor-filler opener ‘Image Of The Invisible’ to mainstream radio/MTV friendly closer ‘Red Sky’, what you have here is eleven songs that take you from sheer volume velocity, to rain-swept orchestral landscapes. This album will surprise you. Just when you think you know what it’s all about, the twists and turns shake your emotional senses into realising that what you are dealing with here is an act entering its purple period, leaving all past work in the dust.

Yes, they are noisy little fuckers who like to scream and rock like muthas, but they also wear their hearts on their sleeves. Track three, ‘The Earth Will Shake’, is a combination of all those emotions set in one song. The one constant is melody, and it’s there pushing it’s way out; you can sing along to their tunes, which makes them a cut above the rest; sure they rock with a capital ‘R’, but they certainly Roll with that same letter.

For some it will be way too much, but for that generation ‘D’ that is now 18 years of age, has been digital over the last four years, and are always searching for the new, the unique, the better, the ‘special’, then there can be no doubt in an x-factor/pop idol wasteland. The flip-side of the coin is shiny and new; breaking the girl, bruising the boy; this is music that will live with you forever; you will feel like it always has; and it’s one of the best alternative records of 2005!

4.5/5

1. Image Of The Invisible

2. Between The End And Where We Lie

3. Earth Will Shake

4. Atlantic

5. For Miles

6. Hold Fast Hope

7. Music Box

8. Like Moths To Flame

9. Of Dust And Nations

10. Stand And Feel Your Worth

11. Red Sky

Jj 2005.