Thrice
Thrice is an American rock band from Irvine, California, formed in 1998. The group was founded by guitarist/vocalist Dustin Kensrue and lead guitarist Teppei Teranishi while they were in high school.
This article is about the American band. For a definition of the term "thrice", see the Wiktionary entry thrice.
Thrice
Irvine, California, U.S.
- 1999–2012
- 2015–present
- Eddie Breckenridge
- Riley Breckenridge
- Dustin Kensrue
- Teppei Teranishi
Early in their career, the band was known for melodic hardcore punk music based in heavily distorted guitars, prominent lead guitar lines, and frequent changes in complex time signatures. This style is exemplified on their second album, The Illusion of Safety (2002) and their third album The Artist in the Ambulance (2003). Their fourth album Vheissu (2005) made significant changes by incorporating electronic beats, keyboards, and a more experimental sound. In 2007 and 2008, Thrice released The Alchemy Index, consisting of two studio albums that together make a four-part, 24-song cycle. Each of the four six-song EPs of the Alchemy Index features significantly different styles, based on different aspects of the band's musical esthetic which reflect the elemental themes of fire, water, air and earth, both lyrically and musically. The band's seventh album, Beggars, was released on August 11, 2009, and their eighth, Major/Minor on September 20, 2011. The most recent albums feature a refined combination of the band's different experiments and explorations. In 2011, Thrice announced a final tour and an imminent hiatus.
Kensrue and Teranishi decided to reform the band in 2015 after attending a Brand New concert. In 2016, Thrice released their first post-reunion album, To Be Everywhere Is to Be Nowhere.
The band's tenth album, Palms, was released in 2018. Their eleventh studio album Horizons/East was released in September 2021. Each album released by Thrice has had a portion of its sales proceeds donated to a new charitable organization.[1][2]
Solo activities[edit]
Dustin Kensrue released his first solo album on Equal Vision Records on January 23, 2007, Please Come Home.[137][138] The album opened at 142 on the Billboard 200.[139] The follow-up was released in 2008, and was called This Good Night Is Still Everywhere.[140] This album featured two original Christmas songs and various covers of Christmas carols.[140]
Dustin Kensrue revived his solo career by gathering Lee Neujahr (drums), Phil Neujahr (bass), and Jonny Sandu (synth) in order to form The Modern Post.[141] The Modern Post released their first EP in 2012 called The Water & the Blood. Next, Kensrue released a worship album under his own name, The Water & the Blood, on September 30, 2013.[142] On November 24, 2014, Kensrue's band The Modern Post released a Christmas EP, Lowborn King, that featured various Christmas songs and an alternate version of Kensrue's song, "This Is War".[143] Kensrue's next release was on April 21, 2015, called Carry the Fire.[144][145][146] Lastly, on March 18, 2016, Kensrue released an album of live covers of popular songs, Thoughts That Float on a Different Blood.[147][148]
When asked about his next work, Dustin Kensrue said he will be working on a project with his brother that will be very different from both Thrice and his solo work.[126]
Teppei Teranishi is in a side project with Chris Jones called Black Unicorn. Chris Jones also played drums and electric guitar on Dustin's solo album.[149]
Dustin Kensrue provided guest vocals and Teppei Teranishi played guitar/provided production on The Out Circuit's album Pierce The Empire With a Sound.[150]
Musical style, influences and legacy[edit]
While mostly considered a post-hardcore band,[151][152][153][154][155] Thrice has also been described as alternative rock,[151][156][157][158] pop punk,[14][155][159][160] experimental rock,[161][162] art rock,[159][160] hard rock,[58][163] melodic hardcore,[161][164] emo,[159][165] screamo,[153][160] thrash metal,[159][160] indie rock,[161] hardcore punk,[161] heavy metal,[153] and punk rock.[166] While describing Thrice as post-hardcore, AllMusic's Johnny Loftus also described their sound as a mix of punk, screamo, and pop with progressive tendencies.[167]
Thrice's first two albums, Identity Crisis and The Illusion of Safety have been described as metal and punk influenced post-hardcore.[168] Thrice's earlier music was known for being melodic, yet fast and based in heavily distorted guitars, prominent lead guitar lines, and frequent changes in complex time signatures. This style was mainly demonstrated on their second album, The Illusion of Safety, and their third album The Artist in the Ambulance.[169] Their first three albums have considered to have elements of thrash metal, screamo, and pop punk.[160] On their fourth album, Vheissu, the band incorporated electronic beats, keyboards, and more experimental and nuanced songwriting.[170][171] Their fifth and sixth albums, The Alchemy Index Vols. I & II and The Alchemy Index Vols. III & IV, both included two discs, six tracks each. All discs represented one of the four classical elements: Fire, Water, Earth, and Air.[172][173] The albums were described as a turn to progressive rock.[172] Each of the four parts experiment with different sounds: Fire (heavy rock), Water (trip hop), Air (atmospheric rock), and Earth (folk rock).[159] Their seventh album, Beggars, and their eighth album, Major/Minor, included post-rock and indie influences.[168] When describing their ninth studio album, To Be Everywhere Is to Be Nowhere, Riley Breckenridge said, "I think there is a different sound but I also think that there is a healthy nod to some of our back catalog in a lot of the music. There's stuff on this record that wouldn't necessarily feel out of place on The Artist in the Ambulance, or Vheissu or wouldn't have felt out of place if it was part of The Alchemy Index or Beggars, or Major/Minor. But at the same time it's also pushing that kind of stuff forward."[174] Similarly, Kensrue said, "I don't know that this new record sounds like a huge jump. It's very different from Major/Minor or Beggars, but I feel like it's not this giant move."[175] When talking about Palms, Dustin stated that "It's definitely a bit more diverse musically than the last few records. As far as the approach, it's probably most similar to Vheissu in that we were trying to pull from a very wide variety of influences"[126] Guitar World called Thrice the "Radiohead of post-hardcore".[151]
Thrice have cited numerous bands as influences, including Fugazi, Refused,[176] Miles Davis, Isis, Hot Snakes, No Knife, Pixies, Thelonious Monk,[177] and Radiohead.[178]
Nothing More lead vocalist Jonny Hawkins cites Thrice as an influence.[179]
Studio albums
