Irvine, CA based hard rockers Thrice have gone through a few major stages in their career, marked by a drastic changes in sound and approach to musical production.  While their eighth full length album is not their most original or groundbreaking effort, it is still a solid and mature collection of songs that still resonate with traditional Thrice melodies.

Any fans expecting fast punk beats, off-rhythm time signatures, front man Dustin Kensrue’s gut wrenching screams, or guitarist Teppei Terenishi’s melodic lead and melodic playing that were all so prominent in the early decade, stop reading now.  Any fans expecting experimental/electronic sounds, keyboards or album conceptualization present on “Vhiessu” (2005) and “The Alchemy Index” series (2007-2008) can too stop reading now.  Similarly to their previous effort “Beggars” (2009), “Major/Minor” is another folk/grunge influenced CD. It is a simple band playing their respective instruments, writing songs that they care about.

Kensrue has always taken great pride in his lyrical content, often taking inspiration from science fiction, literature and poetry often laced with social commentary.  Heavy content is abundant in tracks like “Treading Paper” and “Yellow Belly” and everything he sings seems to resonate as truth.

Terenishi’s hard rock and bluesy groove guitar tones shower the tracks with melody and rawness.  However, he seems absent when it comes to backing vocals or accompanying harmonies that were present on previous efforts.  The band connects on the track “Promises” which combines soaring vocals with syncopated groove from drummer Riley Breckenridge.  Bassist Eddie Breckenridge is as solid as ever, following along with his brother, providing a rhythm section next to none.  “Anthology” combines lyrics from various songs in Thrice’s repertoire, glued together to make an airy and catchy song.  Closing the album is “Disarmed” providing a mellow, rich outro to the album.

Although “Major/Minor” is very solid and powerful release, it fails to meet the expectations of progression from “Beggars”.  The band seemed to have settled into a raw, organic sound continuation rather than create more variety from album to album.  Though “Major/Minor” is a slight progression, there just is not as much going on texturally and leaves me bored after a few listens.  Kudos to Thrice though, for providing honest music to their honest fans – they certainly are in the business for the right reasons.  6.5/10