Thursday’s new album is called War All The Time and it sucks.

Well, that’s not entirely true. It’s listenable, certainly. But, to an extent, that’s part of the problem. If you liked Thursday already, you’ll like this album. They don’t grow, really. There’s some mosh going on, they sing really passionately, and they scream some. You can tell, just by listening, that the singer probably closes his eyes a lot, clenches his hands into fists, and pumps them into the air. Rock n’ roll!

However, there is nothing original; the songs all sound the same. Now, I know how you kids like to get pissed off and write letters, so allow me to qualify my statement. It’s not that I don’t “understand” punk or emo or screamo or whatever other ridiculous tag you want to put on it. I love bands you’ve never heard of, just like you love bands I’ve never heard of. I even dyed my hair black once. It shames me to admit it, but I even had a Live Journal. You can’t see me now, but I’m bowing my head in shame.

That said, let’s break it down, and I’ll give you highlights (for lack of a better word with a negative connotation). “Signals Over The Air,” track four off my new coaster, is about the punk scene getting ripped off and distilled for the radio, and them being lumped into that group. Right on! It’s easy to bitch about someone else “selling out,” especially on your new record that mimics your last successful one! Track seven, “This Song Brought To You By A Falling Bomb,” is a soft, plaintive piano piece. The lyrics are ripe with imagery, but again, this all feels done before.

This whole album reeks of déjà vu. With few exceptions, songs start in one of two ways. One, every one starts in really loud, and then gets quiet, and the lyrics start (tracks one, eight and ten), or two, a lone guitar starts off clean, slowly joined by the rest for a long, slow buildup (tracks two, four, five, and eleven). It’s very well done, but very formulaic. These guys know what they’re doing because they’re merely the freshest layer on a huge pile of bands that came before them. It’s like Kansas, Styx, Foreigner, and Journey. They’re practically all the same band. I can’t distinguish one from another, beyond the fact that one did “Dust in the Wind” and another did “Wheel in the Sky.” In much the same way, too many of these emo bands are sounding a lot alike. You don’t want to be lumped together? Stop sounding like you ought to be the same four or five guys with horn-rimmed glasses, shaggy hair, and tight jeans.

In the liner notes, so as to qualify themselves by association with bands you already like, they list them. But, let’s face it. They’re name-dropping to look cool. It’s a long list, too, with notables such as Planes Mistaken For Stars, Alkaline Trio, Darkest Hour, Saves The Day, and Thrice. Great. I’m glad you like bands I like. Oddly enough, though, Good Charlotte is listed. Wasn’t Signals about bands selling out the punk scene?

In closing, Thursday’s latest endeavor is nothing you can’t hear elsewhere. It’s listenable, well written, and catchy. But original? Not by a long shot.