"I have a rule about not playing in shorts," Thursday frontman Geoff Rickly said prior to the New Jersey post-hardcore sextet's U.S. tour opener at the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia on Friday night. "But I have a pair of cutoffs that I'm gonna whip out just for this show, and then I'll go back to my rule."

Here's a rundown of the essential albums available online and in record stores today:

New Jersey post-hardcore band Thursday will release their first album in three years, Common Existence, February 17 via Epitaph Records. But for impatient fans, SPIN.com has just the thing -- an exclusive leak of "Friends in the Armed Forces," a rockin' single off the upcoming record!

Love 'em or hate 'em, you can't deny Guns N' Roses' domination this week, as frontman Axl Rose and Co. prepared to release one of the most delayed albums in history, Chinese Democracy.

On February 17, Common Existence, the fifth album from New Jersey post-hardcore legends Thursday, will arrive courtesy of Epitaph Records. The album was recorded by the six-piece band with producer Dave Friddman at Tarbox Road Studios in Cassadaga, NY -- and SPIN.com has exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from the studio, including clips of new songs!

After lots of internet speculation, full album details are finally here, exclusively at SPIN.com: Post-hardcore powerhouse Thursday's and Japanese melodic shredder Envy's split LP will arrive November 4 via Temporary Residence Ltd.