Hey! What the hell are you doing here?
Oh wait you’ve been here, before? Well, hell. Welcome back. Pull a chair up, soak in the sewage and bad feelings. The gutter really hasn’t changed except for the soundtrack to it. Yeah, when you’re down at rock bottom you just really have to embrace it. How else are you supposed to get out?
THURST is a project hailing from Los Angeles with credits going to Kory Seal, who seems to be a driving force behind these powerful tunes, with accompanying vocals from Jessie Seal, but more importantly credited for, and god damn can you feel it crawl over you as you listen to this album, Long-Distance Hexing. This is an album, for me, that takes me back to an old house I used to live in; like yeah, I’ll get reminiscent, but then realize there’s black mold in all the walls, but also will I ever get that feeling again the first time my friends and I spent a whole day on the roof? Driving bass, a keen ear for dueling guitar instrumentation, and brooding synths make you pull and push so hard in your emotions, and THURST knows this.
On Project Isle Demotion, right off the bat, you’re thrown right into the worst night you’ve ever had; like you’re waking up from a bad dream straight into a black-out. Instead of ending up in the middle of a bar fight (think Jesus Lizard’s kick off song on Liar, “Boilermaker”) you’re in a bar where everyone is trying to convince you they’re ok, including yourself. All the while on everyone’s faces, you can see you’re all processing every mistake, every valley, ALL the emotions, at hyperspeed. “For any kind of feeeeeeeeling”. Here we are in THURST’s world, and it’s all hecked and hexed.
The album continues to shine as we move through the grime, I still can’t believe how many times I’ve listened to Public Figure and had to check to see that’s IT’S ONLY 2 MINUTES. It’s absolutely incredible how these two worlds are created so well in one song and it ends so fast. Once again, there it is, that push and pull, an argument in your own brain.
In the movie Drive, there’s a rhythm created by the score to highlight Ryan Gosling’s cool brooding, while also building an environment for what it’s like to drive around Hollywood trying to process struggle, and don’t get me wrong, it’s good. What we have in this EP is what I’d really like to drive around to in order to process my feelings. A wrestling match in my brain ensues as soon I turn the keys and hit play, and by the end I’m exhausted and can’t believe I’ve driven my car vertically, straight out of the gutter.
Project Isle Demotion is available NOW on streaming and cassette via Too Far Gone Records. This is the label's first release in over 2 years. Their taste, DIY ethics, and dedication ultimately helped shaped what would become the Crafted Sounds label. Be sure to spin this record, and check out everything else TFG has been a part of.
RIYL: Interpol, Miserable, Fine Dining//Crying in a Dumpster (Not a band)
Favorite Tracks: For Any Kind of Feeling, Public Figure, Meet Me in the Cop Car
Follow THURST
Favorite Tracks: For Any Kind of Feeling, Public Figure, Meet Me in the Cop Car
Follow THURST
Written by Ira Mason (@spookEguy420_69)