I never really liked Thursday. With all the hype surrounding them since the release of Full Collapse I figured I would pick up the aforementioned LP. I thought it blew. I still think it blows. They sound like At the Drive-In with a singer who can't stay in key.

Then I listened to their latest effort "Five Stories Falling", and something clicked. There's an undeniable energy about the live tracks that really draws me in. It seems to me that singer Geoff Rickley's voice has really improved (even though the chorus is shrieked out of key on "Standing on the Edge of Summer") from Full Collapse, which especially shows on the new track "Jet Black New Year".

"Paris in Flames" and "Autobiography of a Nation" are the standout live tracks on the EP especially when they scream the opening lines of the disc, "WRITE THESE WORDS BACK DOWN!"

The studio track is nothing short of breath taking. If this is the new Thursday, I'm listening. They have definitely grown as a band and adopted a harder, more concentrated sound.

One of my major problems with their sound before was that it seemed as though they were trying too hard to have weird breakdowns, and most of the time they didn't fit.

Like in Cross Out the Eyes when they try to break down into "it was the first time face to face" it seemed as though they forgot what song they were playing, only to launch back into the screamed chorus of "CROSS OUT THE EYES!". Do I like it when bands try different things? Yes. I am not saying bands shouldn't branch out and try things like Thursday has done in the past, but I always thought that the conception and the execution by thursday never quite matched up. Like they wanted it to come out a certain way and they missed horribly.

They succeed everywhere they used to fail with the new song "Jet Black New Year". The break downs fit perfectly, even when changing keys and tempos, it just seems to blend so much better than ever before. I especially love the countdown at the end, pure and utter mastery.

Thursday, in my opinion, is a band on the brink of genius. A band that is, as I am writing this review, reaching their full potential as musicians.

I look forward to hearing the new full length which I have heard will be out early next year. If it is at all following the example set by "Five Stories Falling", it should be a masterpiece.