THIS has got to be a God-send to all those rabid Thursday fans. Their last record, A City By The Light Divided, was good with a few stand out tracks (I’m partial to War All The Time). This is my first time listening through this new split (feat. Envy on 3 tracks), and I’m pretty impressed with the work. It seems they’ve decided to go with a little more ambiance, which is a welcome change from the scene’s dull use of the same quirky guitar melodies. The record will be available only on vinyl (180 gram), but will include a CD copy of the album as well.

In other Thursday news, the band recently signed with Epitaph Records. Check the press release out.

For the last decade, Thursday has released groundbreaking, essential albums like 2001’s fan-favorite Full Collapse and 2003’s breakthrough release War All the Time, and played riveting shows, garnering hundreds of thousands of fans worldwide. As the band approaches their tenth anniversary, Thursday has dug deep to recapture the original fervor and fire to make their most honest and sincere record to date.

Having had their share of ups and downs with record companies in the past, the band was determined to find a label that was as passionate about their artists as the band is about their music. The group signed with Epitaph Records in September based on their parallel values and the label’s reputation for its dedication to their bands.

“One of our biggest concerns was that we find a situation where we could be free to just be Thursday,” explains Thursday frontman, Geoff Rickly. “Epitaph have continually voiced their desire to help us become the band that WE have always wanted to be. It’s a great feeling to have a label encourage you to be more socially conscious and politically active. It’s a great feeling to have a label owner push you to explore the most experimental and challenging aspects of your band’s music instead of dissuading you. It’s a truly great feeling to be working with a label that all of our friends have had so many great experiences with.”

As Thursday enters the next phase with an enthusiastic group of kindred souls behind them, they are approaching their next effort with the same humility and passion that has elevated the band throughout their career. A reaffirmed socially conscious ideology and years of both experience and hindsight have found the band with their most authentic voice yet. Never ones to back down from their beliefs, Thursday is devoted to bring their fans their most thoughtful, inspiring album ever.

“We’ve always believed that music has the power to change lives and that all of us who have been lucky enough to make music for a living have a responsibility to try and make the world a more compassionate and livable place in any small way that they can” Geoff adds. “We hope that with Epitaph’s help and guidance we can do our part.”

I’m stoked for the next full length… are you?

Girl Talk doesn’t waste time; the just made Feed The Animals, which was just mastered, is coming out Thursday. Yeah, this Thursday. Being made available on the Illegal Art website. Currently, MTV is reporting that Gregg Gillis aka Girl Talk, is reviewing the mastered work now, and if it passes his standards, the web should have a shiny new copy of the hyper-sampled work in 2 days.

Oh fuck it, MTV does this better than I do.

“I haven’t heard the master yet, but Gregg has it and he’s reviewing it right now,” Philo T. Farnsworth, the owner of Illegal Art, told MTV News by phone on Tuesday (June 17). “If he decides something is wrong with it, well, then I guess that could hold up the release — either that or resolving some server issues. But it’s correct to say that it’ll be available on the Illegal Art Web site starting on Thursday … that’s correct as of right now.”

As luck would have it, an MTV News crew was actually with Gillis at his Pittsburgh home late Monday when he received the mastered version of Animals — according to our producer, not only does the album sound great (snippets of Kanye, Shawty Lo, Madonna and Heart — to name just a few — are sprinkled throughout), but Gillis seemed so happy with it that he asked us to decide when it should be released to the Net — our producer picked Thursday, and that’s the day you’ll be able to hear it.

“The plan was always to put it out as quickly as possible — before the physical release in September, for sure — and so that’s what we’re doing,” Philo said. “Gregg didn’t want to leak any of it early to the press; he wanted everyone to hear it, and when [the album] goes on the site it will be the first time [virtually] anyone’s gonna hear it. I mean, I’ve heard an unmastered version of it, and a few other people here have, but that’s about it. We have all been very cautious about it.

And Illegal Art’s plan will sound familiar to anyone who’s followed Radiohead’s in Rainbows or Nine Inch Nails’ Ghosts I-V (or even Saul Williams’ The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust album): Downloaders can pay what they want for Animals, though Philo said that if they spend, say, $5 or $10, they’ll get not only the album, but FLAC files and a physical copy when they’re available.

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