After years of falling into the emo/screamo trap, California hardcore band Thrice are ready to move into new terrain with their fourth album, Vheissu, out Tuesday.

Drummer Riley Breckenridge says that the group -- Breckenridge, frontman Dustin Kensrue, guitarist Teppei Teranishi, Breckenridge's brother and bassist Eddie -- wanted the album to have more of a Brit pop appeal, reflective of its influences. The first move was to choose someone unexpected to turn the knobs for Vheissu. After working with Brian McTernan (Fairweather, Count Me Out, In My Eyes) on their last two releases, the band turned to British producer Steve Osborne, who has recorded with U2, Peter Gabriel and, most recently, Doves.

"We worked with the same producer on the last two records Brian McTernan, and we learned a lot from him," says Breckenridge. "But we wanted to expand what we did musically, and we felt like the best way to do that was to start fresh. With a lot of bands in our genre or that are on the Warped Tour, there are these producers that everybody likes to use -- Howard Benson (Hoobastank, Motorhead, P.O.D.), John Feldman (Goldfinger, Destination Unknown). We wanted to shake it up a bit."

As a result of the work with Osborne, Thrice's influences -- which run the gamut from jazz to Brit pop to electronica -- shone through. "One of the bands we look up to the most is Radiohead, because they're constantly reinventing themselves, adding new aspects to their music with each record -- and they pull it off really well," says Breckenridge. "That's something we hope to do. So we incorporated a lot of different things: we added keyboards, Rhodes piano, piano, some accordion. Less of the emo/screamo stuff, more rock."

And that title? Vheissu, a word that refers to the mouth of a cluster of tunnels beneath Mount Vesuvius, takes its name from a loose collection of arcane myths found in V., Thomas Pynchon's classic underground novel of 1963. "With every decision we make, we're standing at the gateway to a bunch of different tunnels," says Breckenridge. "We don't know how things are going to end up. You just have to pick a tunnel and go."

Thrice are currently out on their first major headlining tour, which resumes Wednesday in Minneapolis.

Thrice North American tour dates:

10/19: Minneapolis, Quest
10/20: Milwaukee, The Rave
10/21: Chicago, The Riviera
10/22: Detroit, The State Theatre
10/23: Cincinnati, Bogart's
10/25: Cleveland, House of Blues
10/26: Toronto, The Docks
10/27: Ottawa, Capital Music Hall
10/28: Montreal, Centre-Pierre Charbonneau
10/29: Portland, ME, The Station
10/30: Boston, Avalon
11/1: New York, Roseland
11/3: Washington, DC, 9:30 Club
11/4: Philadelphia, Electric Factory
11/5: Norfolk, VA, The NorVa
11/6: Charlotte, NC Grady Cole Center
11/8: Myrtle Beach, SC, House Of Blues
11/9: Atlanta, The Masquerade
11/10: Atlanta, The Masquerade
11/11: Tampa, FL, Ford Amphitheatre
11/12: Lake Buena Vista, FL, House Of Blues
11/13: Fort Lauderdale, FL, Revolution
11/15: Houston, Numbers
11/16: Austin, Stubb's Barbeque
11/17: Fort Worth, TX, Will Rogers Coliseum
11/19: Tempe, AZ, Marquee Theatre
11/20: Tempe, AZ, Marquee Theatre

CHRISTINA FUOCO
(posted Oct. 18, 2005)