All-around Breakdown: Thirsty Curses Frontman Wilson Getchell Supplies Background On Making-of Band's New Album To The Ends of The Earth

Thirsty Curses is an eclectic Rock "N" Roll outfit based out of Raleigh, North Carolina. Thirsty Curses' material draws from numerous genres including Punk, Folk, Country, and Grunge and explores lyrical themes ranging from the existential to the absurd. Thirsty Curses' songs are both impassioned and sardonic, comical and foreboding. Late last year, Thirsty Curses dropped a double-feature music video showcasing single, "Nothing Really Matters," and a pseudo-intro spotlighting "One of These Days." We did a feature on the music video(s) which we described as echoing something to the effect of Guns N' Roses meets Every Time I Die with a bit of Scissor Sisters-style "campy" piano bar cabaret mixed in, for good measure. As YES! Weekly wrote, "Thirsty Curses make Rock "N" Roll, with a boisterous beer-swilling edge to it. Many of these songs are about living it up while things fall apart at the seams or, at least, trying to find some glory in chaos and meaninglessness." Thirsty Curses has a diverse sound, pulling from a variety of genres, including, but not limited to Alt. Punk, Rock "N" Roll, Alt. Country, Alternative Rock, Folk, Garage Rock, Grunge, Indie Pop, and Punk Rock.

Thirsty Curses released two albums independently, Holy Moly & All Shook Up, before signing with Charleston-based Indie label Spectra Music Group in early 2019. Thirsty Curses put out its self-titled 2019 album shortly thereafter, which included the singles "Bruises On Your Shoulders," "Smash/Hit," and "Racing Through The Daze." Thirsty Curses' current line-up consists of rhythm guitarist, vocalist, and organ player Wilson Getchell, bassist Clayton Herring, drummer Evan Miller, and lead guitarist Alexander "Alex" Weir. Their latest album, To The Ends of The Earth, was self-released just this past Friday, March 4, 2022, and isnow available on digital streaming platforms. FRontman Wilson Getchell was kind enough to provide us with a comprehensive track-by-track breakdown on the making-of To The Ends of The Earth. It has been lightly edited for general clarity and can be perused below while you listen to each accompanying track.


"Incidentally, this song was written within a couple of days, as [was] "VHS Release," which was first song off of our last album. We almost included "One of These Days" on our last album, but we ended up waiting until we could access an acoustic piano. All of our other albums start off with bangers ("Ooh Rah Rah," "Can't Keep Up," "VHS Release,") so we thought it would be good to start this album off with a more somber, reflective tune. At the time it was written, I just felt like life had gotten pretty dull. I was isolating and feeling a bit depressed and just wanted to go somewhere, anywhere, else. We recorded this song at Bias Studios in Springfield, VA in August 2021 along with "Vera," "Calmer Waters," and "Your Next Move."'


"This song was originally written on piano. It has been floating around for a couple years, but we had never been able to get it to sound right. Once we switched up the instrumentation and arrangement and made it more of a Rock song, it came together pretty [quickly]. It's probably the most "90's Rock" song on the album."


"For most of the 2020 Lockdown, I had a hard time writing. I wrote a few things during the early part of that year, but from about May 2020 until December, I felt totally lost and unmotivated. This was first song I wrote after a long period of Lockdown writer's block. I had, also, recently broken up with a girlfriend and was trying to look forward about what would come next in this period of total personal and societal uncertainty. I had, also, been learning a lot of Beatles songs on the piano at that time and I think that comes through in the arrangement."


"One of my favorites from the album. This song was written shortly after we released our self-titled album (2019) and is a reflection of the exhaustion I was feeling toward my own substance abuse issues. Fortunately, it feels like those issues are behind me now, but there were several years when I was having a hard time with alcohol abuse. This song was written after an alcohol-fueled incident that left me feeling pretty hopeless about the whole thing. It's pretty raw and honest and straight-forward. Musically, it's pretty simple, but I think the dynamic shifts throughout the song are pretty powerful."


"Another one of my favorites from the new album. The music for this song had been floating around for a couple years, but didn't have lyrics. Initially, the song just had a refrain of "whistlepig" that we came up with when our guitarist fell in a gofer hole. I finally wrote real lyrics in March 2020 when everything was going to sh*t with COVID. I think the line "things are only gonna get weirder" effectively sums up these strange times we're living through."


"This is the newest song on the album. It was written in November 2021. We had mostly already tracked the entire album by then, but I really wanted to include it. So, we kind of raced to get this one finished in time to add it to the album. I think it is probably the most accessible song on the record. It's about a girl I was very briefly involved with. It was a situation in which it was pretty clear we weren't compatible. The song is sort of a response to that incompatibility in which I [fantasized] about, somehow, making it work."


"There was a lot of turbulence in my life in my late 20's and this song is about me navigating that and trying to find some sort of balance in it all. We recorded this track at Bias Studios, as well."


"This was written in late 2019 a few weeks after "What The Hell?" It's sort of a sequel song to that. It deals with a lot of the same themes, but with a little less sorrow and a little more [self-depressive] aging humor. I'm particular fond of the background vocals on this one. I think with "Jenny," it's one of the more accessible songs on the album. It's got an earworm quality to it."


"I finished this song in late 2018. I had recorded a demo of the song around then that everyone in the band really liked, but for whatever reason, we had a hard time conveying the song correctly live and as a full band for a couple years. One day this summer, we sat down as a group and really drilled through it piece-by-piece and were finally able to find the sweet spot we were looking for. Now, it's definitely one of our favorites to perform. It's got a lot of space in it and is pretty easy to groove to."


"This song is about trying to make a doomed relationship work. I was on-again, off-again with a girl for several years and really cared about her a lot, but for whatever reason, we just couldn't make it last; this song is about that. I like how it's got a chipper upbeat musical feel, but has fairly somber lyrics. Piano was recorded at Bias Studios."


"Our drummer, Evan [Miller,] is really into eElectronic music. He was sort of the impetus to this intro into "Nothing Really Matters." He and I sat down one day with his synth and put it together."


"Several years ago, there was a [Newsweek] Magazine cover that read, "[We Are] All Socialists Now." I had that in mind when I wrote the line "we're all Nihilists now." I was feeling like our society (myself included) had grown to be more cynical and Nihilistic than ever. I was motivated by those sentiments when I wrote this tune. It's not particularly an uplifting song, but there’s some tongue-in-cheek dry humor permeating through the lyrics."


"I, actually, started writing this song circa 2008 and had totally forgotten about it until I was going through some old hard drives during The Lockdown. I found an old demo of it, re-wrote some of the lyrics, and transposed the song to piano. It's about a search for meaning and real world interruptions to that search. I like how it's linear—it's got six different parts with none repeating."