Thrice Band • Page 363

It's that song by the Goo Goo Dolls.

 

Dustin's voice is simultaneously beautiful and devastating. The song is incredible. Vinyl has been ordered. Now praying for some tour dates that take them somewhere near Seoul.

 

I’m all for being critical of creative decisions that you don’t like and wishing different decision were made. But, commenting that way on the artist’s own post or tagging them in it, etc., seems pretty clearly rude to me, lol. Write it in a review or make a petty comment on your own personal social media account or whatever, imo.

 

Anyways, that song rips. When I got to the end, I couldn’t believe a Thrice song in 2025 was doing that.

 

Yeah, bingo.

 

Gnash fucking rules, that’s all I’ve got!

 

What you all don’t know, thrice are chase’s favorite band, but he’s also harder on them then like any other band haha. Of course the band doesn’t know this when reading his comment. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal, next time maybe just pair it with something more positive.

 

Imagine all the world is mad without a vocal slide!

 

Before you (or anyone else) takes the time to read this message, I want to request that you consider what voice you're hearing in your head while reading my comments, and try to imagine that you're reading a message from someone who genuinely means well, who has considered Thrice his favorite artist for over half of his life, who's supported this website for many years, and who is willing to learn and admit mistakes (as I've already done multiple times in this thread today). If we can't be offering each other this type of benefit of the doubt...then why engage in conversation to begin with?

So, it has always seemed to me that Thrice responds well to criticism. Even though I've always hated the "play Deadbolt" fans at shows, I loved that Thrice eventually played into the joke and started selling "Play Deadbolt" t-shirts. I also love the moment on the Anthology album where Riley yells out, "We're not a jukebox!" I would also argue that, on Horizons/East, Thrice were intentionally reacting to all the criticism they received on Palms; as best as I can tell, H/E represented an attempt to tackle some of the same ideas and themes from Palms, but while healthily responding to the pushback they'd received on what very well might be their most criticized album ever.

Now, I'm certainly NOT arguing that "Thrice responds to criticism well, so we should dish out as much as we want!" However, it sounds like you and I plainly disagree on whether there's ever a place to share critiques directly with bands. I do not believe that we should shield bands from all our critiques or concerns, and anyone who wants to put music out into the world regularly needs to develop thick skin to the fact that they'll be criticized for it and that they'll release new music that doesn't always connect with fans of the older stuff. Even I, as a newer artist with a MUCH small audience, have been forced to learn how to deal with seeing negative reviews from strangers or having fans of one album say they don't like the new album; but I try to learn from these criticisms, even if I disagree with them or even if they don't end up playing into what I make next.

And to clarify, my point here was never that I think Dustin's in the wrong for ever doing vocal slides, or that they are inherently bad, or that I am entitled to tell Thrice how their music can be better. My point (as poorly worded as it was) was genuinely wondering if Dustin was even aware that he was writing this technique into so many of his songs and vocal deliveries--as in, had it become so second-nature to Dustin that he wasn't totally cognizant of its prevalence? I think it's true for ALL songwriters that they should be careful not to over-rely on any one tool from their toolbox too often. But I never said that the slides were inherently bad or that removing them would inherently be better across the board. Someone earlier today brought up "Stumbling West" (which I think is the Thrice song with the most slides in it), and I love that song!

Lastly, I thought I would share a personal anecdote, in case anyone's wondering whether I'm totally shameless or heartless about this type of stuff. Back in 2020, I published a review of Acceptance's album Wild, Free, which was a major disappointment for me. I had mostly negative things to say about it, but I never really considered that the band might read my review. Well, the band did read it -- at least, one of the guitarists did, which I learned because he commented on my review. He was extremely kind and humble about receiving the negative review, but I still felt AWFUL about it, and I wished that I could go back in time and make the review nicer and more constructive. In all likelihood, him finding my review was probably just a blip on the radar that he'd soon forget about, but if my critiques had any lasting effects on the band, I can only hope that they'll have positive effects whenever the band gears up for LP4.

FYI, I deleted my Instagram comment 5+ hours ago. One thing I've learned for certain from this thread today is that my comment came across FAR ruder than I ever intended or realized. I'll wait until H/W releases, and if I think my critique is still worth being voiced after spending time with the album, I'll give ample thought about the proper forum and presentation for it.

 

Yeah, in that case, it might actually be a pretty good song.

 

I'm gonna be honest, I don't care one way or another about vocal slides. It's entitled to think your criticism means anything when it isn't an objectively bad quality and the artist chose to use one of the many tools in their toolkit. If you were reviewing the album, your feelings would be valid. Telling the artist they should have made a choice you'd rather they have made when they clearly made a different decision because they preferred things their way is entitled and weird. No offense, I just dont think your subjective preferences matter more than theirs on their own art lol

 

Can I have examples of Dustin's vocal slides? Not sure I understand what that's all about so this has been a confusing discussion

Wonder if that's how non-guitarists feel when people start getting all technical with time signatures, techniques and the likes lol

 

“maze” in verse 2 of “Gnash” or “I….was booooorn” at the start of “Stumbling West.” It’s slowly crawling up to a note, which can be cool in some contexts, but it also invites levels of clashing and discord because, sliding up to a note, the singer is sliding THROUGH sharps, flats, and notes that aren’t in the key of the song.

 

well, what you’re saying here is another reason why I’ve since deleted the Instagram comment that kicked off this whole debacle. like, EVEN IF Thrice specifically wanted my advice on ways to improve their music in the future, there’s nothing I could say that would make them go back and change a finished album. For me to comment about my hopes for H/W, an album that’s already done and on the presses, was simply an extra level of pointless.

and again, I’ve been consistent all day in this thread that I did not put very much thought behind how and when I wrote that comment. But I’ve clearly put in way TOO MUCH thought into this issue that’s been bugging me for years now, and I think it was the very fact that this annoyance was already boiling over that, when I finally chose to say something, it came out rashly and poorly.

 

Oh now I get it. See, I love that shit lol but I'm a the weirder the better kind of listener.

I'm all for artists doing whatever regardless of if it adheres to music rules or is conventional or not. I can see it being bothersome if it's overused, but Glash already has such a menacing atmosphere that this stylistic quirk fits perfectly to my ears.

 

Yeah I love the dissonance that gets created on intentional slides like that. If the song was a happy joyful major song, then yeah it would be grating.

 

A significant downgrade from the great song that it is.

 

Gnash rules

 

yeah it’s very good

 

This thread sucks 80 percent of the time

 

Somehow this thread is more toxic than the Politics thread

 

That seems like the correct ratio for the Internet writ large.

 

There are many other things I should be doing instead of this right now, but I do think a reply is needed here. If I am unable to get to everything I want to say, I'll start with the top line: I replied to you originally because I saw the words "take to task" and then "half of the people agreed with me" and I got curious. Once I saw the actually comment I got 1) sad, because I feel bad for the band that someone would write that on their social media page, 2) confused because it was no where near half of the people agreeing with you. It was 100% of the people replying to your comment disagreeing with you, 7 likes on the comment vs. 5,900 likes on their post plus another 200+ positive comments with hundreds of likes all in favor. So that's like, what ... 0.118% agreeing? I commented because the math was so overwhelmingly not in your favor and not what you said and because I found what you said, to repeat myself because I don't really have a better word here: rude.

Because you began with this request, I need to be upfront. Unfortunately, this isn't what I hear. Not only because of the comment you made which really did rub me the wrong way, but because of an email sent to me years ago by someone you know when we promoted your work on the homepage. I will not get into specifics publicly. But I have a bias because of this. Because you quoted me with a long post, and asked this of me publicly, I feel obligated to be honest about this in my reply because it colors my response. And I was worried all morning that no reply at all looks dismissive to anyone reading this thread. Maybe I'm wrong there, but I overthink things. And, to be clear: I really don't mean to come off as being overly harsh in what I say. But I should admit I am a little biased here for these two reasons.

No. That is a misrepresentation of what I have said and what I think. I have tried to very clearly state that we differ on HOW someone shares critiques in general (or in this case specifically to a band their social media accounts). And even more specifically: about bands we like. If you want to post a poop emoji on Falling in Reverse's social media page, I wouldn't blink an eye. But very specifically I thought how this was presented was rude, and I empathetically felt sad for the band and Dustin as just a raw emotional gut feeling as I read it.

I have never made the claim that we should "shield bands from all our critiques or concerns." This is a straw man. It's not what I've said in this conversation nor what my entire history of talking about music has shown to be true. To be clear, I am not responding in this way to be mean, I am genuinely just not interested in arguing against something I've never said.

A good lesson to learn.

IMO, Wild, Free is incredible and I love it.

And I know it's very meaningful to the band, and, reading through the review, I bet this:

The biggest offender is the dull, momentum-killing ballad "Bend the Light," where the synth pads and U2-styled guitar leads offer nothing to draw your attention from Vena singing lines like, "It's so hard to pretend / When you feel like I feel / It's so hard to pretend / When you see like I see" multiple times in a row

Probably very much hurt. That song is about a band member losing his partner to a horrible disease. I know about this because he posted about it a lot on Facebook when it was happening and it was heartbreaking to watch. I saw those things turn into those lyrics. I saw the grief turned into that song. Hearing that song for the first time was an extremely emotional moment for me and I'm glad whoever commented on the review was kind and humble, but I bet it was not just a blip on the radar for him. And it's why I've tried as I've gotten older to move my criticism, in long form, into explaining where I don't think something works without using language like "dull" or "offers nothing," and I try and avoid extrapolating personal motives or reasoning that I don't know. (Ian Cohen's review of Painting a Panic Attack being the example of what I hope to never do in my writing.) But that's just me, and I don't want to tell you, or anyone else what to do if and when you write anything, but after seeing so many examples like this in my career, it's where I've ended up.

I've written most of my life with an understanding that the person who made the thing I'm writing about is probably going to read it. That's just the truth behind my website being popular for a bit. And it took me years to think through how handle that with any kind of maturity. I lacked empathy for the art. For the artist. And didn't spend enough time thinking through why something was the way it was or what the reasoning behind it may be. As a very young writer I thought I knew best and it was "just my opinion" without thinking through why someone with more talent and wisdom and experience making music would make a specific musical decision, even if I disagreed with the output, and more importantly how to use my "opinion" in a way that was potentially more constructive. Trying to tie this back to the start and my central thesis, that's what rubbed me the wrong way: how it was said. It came across and mean and entitled to me. Scolding. Smarmy. And it bugged me. I mean you no ill will, I mean to only pass on what I've seen and learned and you can take and ruminate on it, or forget it completely.

As I said before, you do you. I mean that and I am trying to live by that --* to let people do what they feel is best and not be judgmental about it. I'm not great at it; I'm trying. I only commented to start because I looked and the math ratio did not match up with your original post and it bugged me how it was worded. I've spent far too much time on this topic now for something that I really don't want to put my time into because it's not that big of a deal. You wrote a comment I found rude, I commented on it, you (I think) also understand it was kinda rude, and I've genuinely been trying not to be rude back but offer my explanation to why something like that bothers me (for now too many words). I'd like to not have any more big giant texts back and forth, I have other things I should be doing, but because you replied publicly to me I felt like if I didn't say something people would think I was doing something wrong. I'm probably just broken.

Please, commence discussion about Thrice and the album and maybe someone should start an album thread. I'd like nothing else than not to have any more of this be part of my future.

* (I wrote this whole thing, fuck chatGPT for ruining em dashes for me.)

 

There is an album thread! It’s off to a hot start. Minimal talk of slides (vocal, playgrounds, water park, or otherwise).

Thrice - Horizons / West (October 3rd, 2025) • Page 3 • forum.chorus.fm