Thrice
The Artist in the Ambulancce
Island Records
For fans of: Early Metallica, Thursday, Cave-In

“The Artist in the Ambulance” is the third album and major label debut from Thrice, a post-punk act from Irvine, California. Over the course of the album, the band mashes styles-pop-punk, classic heavy metal, emo, and progressive rock-together, throwing a lot of things against the wall to see what sticks. When it sticks, it’s good. When it doesn’t stick, it stinks.

On their previous record, “The Illusion of Safety,” Thrice defined a new and innovative sound. Mixing the elaborate, overwrought lyrics and vocals of emo with the high-speed guitar harmony of classic heavy metal, they made an album full of the things most punk acts lack-chops, heart, and originality. By creating a progressive guitar symphony that still maintained a razor edge, they were able to make music that matched the drama of emo’s heart-on-your-sleeve sentimentality and brutal honesty. The result was slightly pretentious but nearly incredible.

Instead of honing that sound even further on “The Artist in the Ambulance,” Thrice continues to experiment. The first single, “All That’s Left,” is a simple, catchy pop-punk song. The chorus is endearingly anthemic, and the simple riffs that anchor it are heavy without being overwhelming. While a good song in its own right, it gives no impression of the previous innovations the band has made, nor does it give a radio listener any hint of what he or she will be in for on the rest of the album.

The opening track, “Cold Cash and Colder Hearts,” adds strings to its heavy metal base, giving the impression of a softer side for the band. That impression is proven wrong on the rest of the album, beginning with “Under A Killing Moon,” one of many songs all about two guitars dueling over shifting bass and drum rhythms. The instrumental skill of the band is refreshing, but when the prowess is not in the service of a good song, it is wasted. Several of the tracks here amount to musical masturbation, where a lot less could have gone a much longer way.

However, when the elements of guitars, voice and drums converge, some very solid music is made. “Paper Tigers,” with its slow tempo and crushing riffs underlying guttural screams, is a prototype for how to write a good metal song. The album’s title track has a very interesting and schizophrenic vocal cadence which adds to its story of a car crash. “Hoods on Peregrine” makes good use of the band’s ability to shift tempo and key quickly on its transition from verse to chorus. The element that unites all of these songs is that they all sound like they could have been on “The Illusion of Safety,” the album where Thrice found their sound and voice. When they try too hard to move themselves forward from that previous point, they end up overreaching. The result is an album that is good but flawed, a disappointing effort that nevertheless gives us a few killer songs. Grade: B- Final Word: A step forward leads to two steps back.

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