Was this a big topic when Meridional came out? I didn’t listen to it until this year and noticed it right away.
Yeah, that Norma Jean thing was a huge topic at the time. I could've sworn there was another case of thrice being aped.
Unconscious borrowing. It's one thing to write a similar riff, a la Music Box's Sabbath bridge, but the vocal melody takes things too far. Even the drums are doing a similar tom roll as Thrice's pre-chorus. I once wrote, recorded and released a song with a Thursday riff in the verse. Had no idea until it was too late to do anything about it. I still feel horrible about it. You can't help it, though. Sometimes, I'll find myself playing riffs from commercial jingles out of nowhere.
i dont think it was an homage, its just different enough that it sounds unintentional. seems obvious enough that most or all members of norma jean would've listened to the artist in the ambulance several times in their lives.
If Lana Del Ray was oblivious to the fact that she completely aped Creep's melody, then it can also happen to a band that would absolutely pay attention to thrice's work, especially since thrice did it better than anyone. (LDR was not paying homage.)