New Jersey's
Thursday was one of the leading lights of screamo's brief ascendancy into the mainstream. Their genre classic,
Full Collapse, is still regarded as a major touchstone for thoughtful, emotionally lacerated post-hardcore, and their time on major-label Island produced more highlights.
Kill the House Lights is part of a CD/DVD retrospective that sees
Thursday returning not only to some of their better-loved songs, but to
Full Collapse's label, Victory. The CD contains alternate and demo versions of
Thursday standbys, such as "Paris in Flames" and "Wind Up," that amply display the band's heart and muscle in equal measure, and three new studio tracks that add to their legacy. "Dead Songs" swings and flails like
At the Drive-In, and "Ladies and Gentlemen: My Brother, The Failure" features some of their heaviest guitar ever. They even include a crisp live version of third album
War All the Time's anthem "Signals Over the Air." It's a fitting marker for not only
Thursday's career to this point, but for their return to the indie label that put them in the national spotlight.