THRIVE

THRIVE’S self-titled debut album is the perfect mix of reggae, rock and hip-hop to keep your ears listening and your feet moving. The first track on the album “Baby Baby” starts the album off with a pretty steady beat with a couple hard rifts from the guitar. Though the lyrics are simple it’s a very catchy tune describing a situation I’m sure we have all been in. The next tune on the album is “Don’t Give Up” which is a slow but positive tune hitting you with a little bit of hip-hop that tells a story of a boy who has had some hard times in his life and with hard times comes hard decisions and uneasy direction. “Suffering” is another great tune that is very positive, reminds me of a song “Drum Major Instinct” would put together; it’s a very well written song and constantly makes you think. “Lie to Yourself” is a more free flowing tune, again bringing that uplift magic to the song with little parts of the instrumental that are unexpected surprises throughout.

"Pick Me Up, cause I slipped in a puddle and I’m so wasted that I can’t stand up, yes that’s me in a corner huddled in a ball, I took some real bad drugs.” A pretty hilarious tune but I’m sure we have all been there, once or twice in are life and wouldn’t have it any other way. Any song starting with that has to be a great song and THRIVE nails it. Senorita, a Latino based song, not my favorite tune on the album but defiantly stands out with its move your body beat. “Confusion” is a slower paced song rooted from wanting something so bad that you don’t know how to gain it but you would do anything to achieve it. “That Look” is the closes to a love song that you will get from THRIVE on this album, they play it cool but the message gets across. “Do It to Them” starts off with some easy flowing dub that is continued throughout the song with some drum and bass, a very chill tune that keeps your mind on the edge of your seat. “Place No Blame” A great song that takes you into many different worlds of people placing blame, another uplifting tune that makes you look on the brighter sides of everything but still not missing what’s really out there. “Away from Everything” a slower but more alternative sounding song then all the other songs on the album but still brings you that positive uplift giving you some kind of hope for the change to come.

The album was off the hook and I can’t count on my hand how many times I have played this album all the way through without skipping one song. THRIVE really takes those real life situations and turns them into something that can make you feel like it can only get brighter and to look at the positive things around you. The album has a constant hit of reggae, rock and hip hop in it in almost every song which is cool. I’m not a huge hip hop fan but when it’s done with reggae if it’s done a certain way it can really add a lot to the album and that’s exactly what it did for THRIVES debut album.

If you haven’t heard of this band please, please check them out! They are from California and are heading to tour in Hawaii in May. You can check all there tour dates on their Myspace page by going to www.myspace.com/thrivingmusic.


by: Ryan McKeldin
- Ryan Mckeldin ( Branch Out Music )