Album Review :: Great Apes :: Thread

Written by: Andrea Janov, CC2K Music Editor

I’ve said it before, but I love any band who gives me a lyric sheet. Seriously, it makes for such a different experience. The first list to an album is always a pure listen and the second listen is the read along listen, but with Thread there was a third, more in depth listen after I read the liner notes. The liner notes let us know that the lyrics were pieced together and inspired by conversations and interviews with their close friends. They say that each song essentially represents a person, with the final track, Thread, represents the way these songs were sewn together into an album. What an awesome fucking concept.

Overall you can easily say that this is a straight forward punk album. The songs are fast and full of a ton of attitude, they have a message and a heart, they are hooky and heavy, they are the type of punk that made me fall in love with it all when I was a teenager.

Though not surprising now that I know how the album was conceived and constructed, but each song has its own sound, style, and feel to it, yet they sound totally cohesive as an album. Seventeen Years and Arms of Catastrophe kickoff the album with heavy punk rock with heavy lyrical content. Both of these tracks drag you deep into this album, you are already in it for the long haul. Arms of Catastrophe has great range with in it, there are sections where the music is pretty minimal, sections where is it slow and lilting, sections where it is catchy, and sections where it screams. Yellow Ribbon is straight forward punk rock with a great stressed/unstressed cadence and killer screams. Everything is Everything is soft and pretty with delicate melodic vocals, it walks the line of being classified as indie. The Fine Art of Holtzing has great screaming and great energy and Vial of Life has a cool contrast between a polished voice and punk music. The Edge of the Western World is my favorite track on the album, it is brooding along the lines of Hot Water Music mixed with Propaghandi. Withering Heights is high energy punk with cool hooks and great strained vocals and San Quentin is heavy boarding on hardcore and metal. The last track Thread is the perfect ending, it is slow, delicate, hook, with the slightest hints of pop punk. It ties the whole album together – musically, lyrically, and conceptually.