Instead of trying to define Thursday for what they are, let the New Jersey rockers describe what they are not. For starters, they are not the Strokes. "Some bands thrive on their disconnectedness and detachment," says singer Geoff Rickly, singling out New York's hippest by name. "But we're very much the opposite. The only importance we have is through our urgency and our immediacy."

That urgency has earned the hardcore band two back-to-back headlining tours (Warped and the upcoming Plea for Peace), plus a hit single and MTV staple with "Understanding in a Car Crash," the group's ode to a friend who met a sudden violent end. The video for "Car Crash," taken from Thursday's second album, Full Collapse, features a microphone-swinging Rickly alternately shouting and whispering his regrets over dissonant guitar. Add in some angular rhythms and fleeting melody, and Thursday connect the worlds of hardcore punk and emo. Just don't tell them that. "That tag 'emo' is condescending to music in general," Rickly says. "It sort of implies that music isn't emotional unless you're using the term to market your angst and emotions. It's a false genre."

To maintain this emotional connection with their fans, Thursday will resort to guerrilla tactics. On last year's Warped Tour, they often missed their set times because of a run-down tour van. But the band played on. "They'd let us set up on a sidewalk, no stage, and we'd have to borrow equipment," Rickly says from the group's new tour bus.

While Rickly directly credits his home state for shaping the band's bleak outlook ("Manchester was a part of what Joy Division was. . . . I think you could say the same thing about New Jersey and us"), he also points to a more unusual influence: his folks. Not only do Thursday still practice in Mom and Dad's basement (where the guys wrote most of Full Collapse), but Rickly's family shaped the singer's musical direction. Warped Tour generation, prepare to shudder. "I know it sounds totally not punk rock, but my parents took me to see Bad Brains -- they were super-rad parents," Rickly says. "We've always listened to music together. Even now, I'll leave and my mom will be like, 'Oh, you missed the Doves,' and I'll be like, 'Awww.' "