It's been a busy year for Thrice, who spent much of 2022 touring in support of last year's Horizons/East, released an acoustic version of one of its songs, and also put out the new single "Open Your Eyes and Dream." They also gave their classic 2002 sophomore album The Illusion of Safety an expanded anniversary reissue, performed the album in full for the first time ever at Furnace Fest, and are about to perform it again cross four Anaheim shows in December with support from Modern Color on 12/15, Militarie Gun on 12/16, Holy Fawn on 12/17, and Worship on 12/18. They're also playing When We Were Young in 2023.
With the year coming to a close, we asked Thrice what their favorite albums of 2022 were, and they made us a top 10 that includes picks from all four members, including Drug Church, The Beths, Gang of Youths, PLOSIVS, Museum of Light, and more. Read on to see all their picks and what they had to say about each one...
THRICE'S 10 FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2022
These Arms Are Snakes - Duct Tape & Shivering Crows
To have more material come out from one of my favorite bands of all time was such a gift. These Arms Are Snakes called it quits in 2010 but have continued to be in regular rotation for me. Although not all of Duct Tape & Shivering Crows was previously unreleased this record is a collection of B-Sides Demos and two covers that are as strong as any album track. Brian Cook has long been a huge inspiration to me as a bass player, and this record is full of amazing chunky bass and guitar riffs and an energetic intensity and groove that only TAAS has. – Eddie Breckenridge
Drug Church - Hygiene
Drug church is such a great live band. Hygiene really captures the way this band is able to make melodic instrumentation carry so much weight. It’s heavy gazey and super catchy. Definitely a record that will make you not realize you are speeding when driving. – Eddie Breckenridge
Sad Gods - Ocean Mask Whispers
Ocean Mask Whispers is a beautiful ambient journey. At times it’s hypnotic and others harsh and chaotic. Low-Fi experimental ambient tracks that are great for headphone listening. There isn’t any sort of machine out there trying to sell this record to you so it’s really obscure, but it’s lovely and available on bandcamp. If you dig Mount Eerie or Aix Em Klemm I think you’ll be stoked on these tunes. – Eddie Breckenridge
Plosivs - Plosivs
John Reis (Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes, Rocket From the Crypt, etc) is one of my favorite guitar players. To this day, I can still picture the tattered (probably third or fourth generation copy) cassette of Drive Like Jehu's Yank Crime that floated around in my room (and subsequently my car) that first introduced me to his guitar playing. Since then, pretty much everything he's been a part of has been a part of my listening repertoire (particularly Hot Snakes). So when I heard that he was putting out new music with Rob Crowe (Pinback...another legendary SD band) and Atom Willard (Rocket From the Crypt, Against Me, etc) I knew I was in before I even heard it. Full of Reis' downstroke-y chord-work, at times intricate and at times tastefully simple, Crowe's distinct flavor for melody, and Willard's ever-steady and solid drumming, this record does not disappoint. – Teppei Teranishi
Gang of Youths - angel in realtime.
This was one of my most anticipated records for the last few years, ever since I listened to their last record on repeat for months and shared it with everyone I knew. I don’t know anyone who can write lyrics like Dave. This record, like the last, is fearlessly open and vulnerable in a way that invites you to be the same. Most of the songs wrestle in one way or another with the death of his father, his memories of him, and the strange and bewildering experience of picking through the secrets he left behind. The wonderfully diverse in sound, but it will make you want to dance and to live and God knows I can always use more of that. – Dustin Kensrue
Khruangbin & Leon Bridges - Texas Moon
It’s hard to miss with either of these artists and this follow up to their 2020 collaboration Texas Sun is fantastic. The sound in general this time around is a bit more subdued overall and, playing to the title, feels a bit more nocturnal. There’s honestly not much I want to say about it. Just put it on one night and pour a drink with some friends. – Dustin Kensrue
Museum of Light - Horizon
I can guarantee this is one of the best records you probably haven’t heard this year. This ex-Traindodge three-piece, recorded and mixed by Scott Evans (who also mixed our latest record, Horizons/East) writes ridiculously heavy, dynamic, concise, and oddly catchy rock that fans of Torche, Floor, Kowloon Walled City, Shiner, The Life & Times, et al, will eat right up. I’m definitely guilty of cluttering group texts with my music recommendations, and everyone I’ve sent this record to has loved it. Hands down. That doesn’t happen very often. – Riley Breckenridge
The Beths - Expert In A Dying Field
Lord knows there’s plenty of bad news floating out there, and it’s easy to get bogged down by it all. Happens to me more than I’d like, and music always helps pull me out of whatever funk I’m in at the moment. The latest LP from The Beths was like a salve for me this year. An instant pick-me-up. Twelve preposterously hooky jams, that will put a smile on your face and a bounce in your step (even when the lyrical content dips into darker themes). It rules. – Riley Breckenridge
Tvivler - Kilogram
Another under-the-radar monster of a record. Furious, sludgy post-punk/hardcore from Copenhagen featuring members of Town Portal, Lack, and Obstacles. It’s got the attitude and urgency of Refused’s magnum opus, The Shape Of Punk To Come, and the rage and heft of some of noise-rock’s heaviest hitters. Work a little math rock into that equation and you’ve got a damn near perfect record. I don’t speak a lick of Danish, but these songs still manage to resonate with me because the passion and intensity with which they’re delivered is undeniable. A must-listen. – Riley Breckenridge
Arcade Fire - WE
Arcade Fire has become a staple band for me over the years and everything they've put out would have easily made my top 10 records for whatever given year. This album is no exception. A slightly stripped back and reserved album that I found myself repeatedly going back to, the highlight track for me is probably "Unconditional II (Race and Religion)" - a track with a distinctly '80s synth pop vibe (something they pull off ever so well), and extremely appropriately, featuring none other than Peter Gabriel.
On a bit of a side note, the cover art is surprisingly similar to our latest release, Horizons/East—a close up of an eye with a colorful iris—though ours is abstracted a lot more. Kind of fun to think we somehow ended up on similar pages. – Teppei Teranishi
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For more on Thrice, read our 20th anniversary review of The Illusion of Safety.
Pick up a copy of Horizons/East on black or yellow vinyl.