Thursday

With their label debacles behind them, New Jersey's post-hardcore front-runners emerge on Epitaph for their fifth full length, and the results are big. Thanks to producer David Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, MGMT), the sound is immense and full, with guitars and keys layered over heavy snares, leaving screamo behind while moving their emotionally charged power into mood-altering territory. Check out explorative tracks "Last Call" and "Circuits of Fever" for their progression, and "Friends in the Armed Forces" and "Resuscitation of a Dead Man" to tie it all together.