10 Post-Hardcore Records Sparta’s Jim Ward and Thursday’s Geoff Rickly Think Every Music Fan Should Own
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The post 10 Post-Hardcore Records Sparta’s Jim Ward and Thursday’s Geoff Rickly Think Every Music Fan Should Own appeared first on Consequence.
Crate Digging is a recurring feature that takes a deep dive into music history to turn up several albums all music fans should know. In this edition, Jim Ward of Sparta and Geoff Rickly of Thursday chat about their essential post-hardcore albums.
Two decades ago, post-hardcore heroes Sparta and Thursday were crashing on each other’s couches, plotting tours, and dropping their most celebrated work – albums like the now legendary Wiretap Scars and Full Collapse, respectively. Now, Sparta is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the former with a multi-leg tour (get tickets here!), and they’re bringing along Thursday singer Geoff Rickly for good measure.
“It’s been cool because, in our careers, we’ve spent a lot of time apart, and that evolution can lead you pretty far away after this long,” Sparta frontman Jim Ward tells Consequence of teaming Rickly for the upcoming new trek. “And the fact that within four hours, we were like, ‘Holy shit, not only are we still good friends, but we have evolved in a similar way!’ It’s pretty bizarre.”
“It’s unreal,” Rickly adds. “Like, we first met when [Jim Ward’s other act] At the Drive-In stayed at my house, way back on In / Casino / Out.”
The way Rickly and Ward tell it, now that they are once again sharing a tour bus, it’s as if no time has passed at all. The two are back to swapping stories and, of course, gushing over the music they’re currently obsessed with.
From Ward’s love of Jawbox and Jawbreaker to Rickly’s history with Fugazi, the tour playlist is full of nothing but absolute heat. Between talking with them about their reconnection, we had the duo break down some of their favorite post-hardcore albums. Read on to see what LPs they find essential — including some genre-bending surprises!
Jawbox — Grippe
Ward: For my very first punk rock record, somebody gave me a LP of Subhumans’ From the Cradle to the Grave. So, from that point on I kind of was in that mode of punk rock – until I got the first Jawbox record. So when I got that, that totally changed my direction. It was Jawbox and Jawbreaker in, like, 1989 maybe? ‘88? Something like that. Those two records changed my life.
Fugazi — In on the Kill Taker
Rickly: [At] the top is Fugazi. My favorite of theirs is In on the Kill Taker, even though I got into them on 13 Songs. In on the Kill Taker was the first time I saw them, and I was like, “Whoa!” They just played the whole friggin’ record, and it was incredible.
Ward: I used to [play that over and over] in the van in Europe. I remember Paul Drake, who was tour managing us, I listened to “Sweet and Low” so many times in a row that he literally lost his shit in the front of the van. He was like, “We can’t fucking listen to this one more time!”
Quicksand — Slip
Rickly: Being a New York guy, Quicksand’s Slip, it changed my life, you know what I’m saying? Because when I came into hardcore, it was through Bad Brains. It’s a little bit of a different energy than like, Subhumans. One is way more crusty and kind of gnarly. Whereas Bad Brains [or Quicksand] are kind of like, you know, dance-y and crazy.
Rites of Spring — Rites of Spring
Ward: Is Rites of Spring on your top ten?
Rickly: It probably should be, but it’s not.
Ward: That would be my number… ah! I’m not doing them in order. Like, I can’t do favorites, it doesn’t work for me, but I would say Rites of Spring is a huge one for me.
Drive Like Jehu — Yank Crime
Rickly: For me, in the top three would probably be Jehu, you know what I mean? But some of it’s semantic, like, is Drive Like Jehu post-hardcore? I don’t know!
Ward: It’s what we consider it anyway, right?
I talked to Rick a couple of months ago and told him, “I probably owe you money, to be honest. Like, I probably ripped you off as a kid way, way harder than we should have.” But that’s how important that band was to me. That band changed my life for sure.
I used to take the CD and, on the song that we sang on, Geoff, I used to take the breakdown part, the drumroll part, and I would actually record it on tape, rewind the CD, and record that part again so that I could listen to that part for like 20 minutes.
Texas Is the Reason — Do You Know Who You Are?
Rickly: I’d have to put Texas Is the Reason, Do You Know Who You Are?, but when I was a kid, I thought of that as an emo record. Because post-hardcore was like Shift, you know what I mean? Which, I would also put up Spacesuit as one of the great New York post-hardcore records. So, sometimes it’s tough to know, but Texas Is The Reason is huge for me.
Ward: I feel like I was in that same ballpark with Braid. Like, Braid, Texas Is the Reason, all of that was still heavy enough to me that I was connecting with it. To me, it was still punk rock.
All this stuff is just punk rock to me, and it’s part of our community. When you show up to a show at the Bonnie Brae House in Denton, and you’re playing with Braid, everybody’s just in a punk rock band, and it’s the best. And I remember seeing them and being so floored, like these guys are so professional and they’re so fucking good at what they do. I was inspired to be better at what I did, and I think that’s also part of our community.
Jane’s Addiction — Nothing’s Shocking
Ward: This is where it gets weird to me, I start overthinking: What is post-hardcore? ‘Cause I’m gonna say the first two Jane’s records were big for me, even though they were kind of like the rockstar version of punk rock, right? Like, they were so glamorous. But that band was too important for me to not talk about.
They shaped who I am for sure. And I think bands like them and Smashing Pumpkins went on to be very famous – and maybe Smashing Pumpkins fell off at some point for me, but early Smashing Pumpkins, like, those dudes are name checking Fugazi. Like, Pearl Jam is name checking Fugazi. So, I don’t think we’re that separated from any of this, you know what I mean?
When people stick up their nose at bands that are in arenas, which in our community, that would happen all the time, it’s like, yeah, but we’re all at the Fugazi show. Eddie Vedder’s at the Fugazi show with us. We’re all there because we all love this music, and it’s just how that music comes through us and goes out.
So, I would say for me, Jane’s Addiction. People are going to hate me for that one, but I don’t care.
Pailhead — Trait
Ward: I’m also going to put Pailhead on my list just because that was something that really blew my mind early on. I’m not a huge fan of Ministry, necessarily. Like, it wasn’t my thing, but Pailhead was the thing that made me connect right away. It was so good.
And I will say that, later in life, I got to be buddies with Al [Jourgensen] for a short period of time, and I really enjoyed hanging out with him. I actually sang on a Ministry song. And when you sing on a Ministry song, you go through all the processors, and then you sound exactly like him. He’s like, “Sounds good!” And I’m like, “It sounds like you!”
Title Fight — Floral Green
Rickly: For what I consider to be the kids, but now is probably like an old band for most young kids today, is Title Fight with Floral Green. They really brought that shit back. They brought post-hardcore back, you know what I mean? They made it hit me in the heart again, in a way that I hadn’t felt in a decade before that record. That’s important.
I listened to that record a lot when I was getting sober. I used to cry a lot in the shower thinking about that record. “I Still Feel It,” “Leaf,” you know, songs like that, they really got me.
At the Drive-In — In / Casino / Out
Rickly: I think, for me, big formative records, it’s weird to say on this call [sitting next to Jim], but In / Casino / Out from At the Drive-In is a game changer. And Wiretap Scars is a classic. It’s weird to say with Jim on here, but you know, those records are what I think are what got to me.
Ward: I think we’re mutual fans of each other. I say this every night on stage, but I love Geoff so much. When we did that tour, the first time we toured together as bands on the Thursday/Sparta tour, it was like a “co-headlining” tour. I think [Thursday] played first the first night in Fort Collins, and we were like, “Okay, we’re never gonna play after them again ever. Like that’s never gonna fucking happen. We just want to warm up the crowd for these guys who’re just gonna kill it every night.”
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10 Post-Hardcore Records Sparta’s Jim Ward and Thursday’s Geoff Rickly Think Every Music Fan Should Own
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