Review Summary: Crafting timeless pieces by spinning the complex yarns of the past
I think it’s safe to say that most people tend to put a chronology to their music when they’re feeling nostalgic or sentimental. It’s natural that a piece of music can be associated with a specific time and place, especially the setting in which it was first heard. “
Oh yeah, I remember that from my first date back in high school!” “
Oh man, this reminds me of my first concert I ever went to!” So it goes. And for that reason, it can be a strange dictator of quality; you may not like that old classic record that kept a place in your rotation over the years, but now it has a place in your headspace and forces you to have some fondness for it in your withered heart.
And it’s for this reason that I’ve had difficulty explaining my fascination with Third Eye Blind’s eponymous debut for a while now. To put it bluntly, this band is
not nostalgic for me in a literal sense. They weren’t my life in high school; I didn’t draw their logo on my notebook; I didn’t spend my childhood summers listening to their music. So it’s hard making heads or tails of the fact that they somehow
are nostalgic. They
are reminiscent of those sentimental summer days as a child and those late-night drives I would take in college. Perhaps it comes down to their vintage late-90s post-grunge tint (you know the one) or the sunny bursts of power pop bliss that earned them comparisons to Semisonic and Weezer back in the day, but these guys captured a certain kind of magic that can immediately transport listeners to a younger version of themselves. That’s not to say
Third Eye Blind is dated, however. It could easily have been released today and still earned its place in the current rock landscape.
Maybe it just comes down to the fact that Stephen Jenkins (vocalist) and Kevin Cadogan (guitarist) found a simple-yet-effective formula and went all the way with it. Despite the behind-the-scenes drama which eventually led to Cadogan’s exit from the group, this debut album doesn’t contain a hint of pretentiousness or gimmickry. It’s purely fueled by emotion and tight songcraft, giving the experience gravity and catchiness in equal measure. This also extends to the way the lyrical/musical contrasts are handled; “Semi-Charmed Life” combines a happy-go-lucky power pop motif with a depressing tale involving crystal meth, “Jumper” is a sunny acoustic ballad that happens to address suicide, and “Narcolepsy” is an aggressive major-key hard rock banger that explores its titular subject matter with a strangely uplifting vibe. As such,
Third Eye Blind is defined by a strange smorgasbord of emotions, but one that remains anchored by its relatability and a distinctly down-to-earth approach. Stephen Jenkins recites his poetry with a staggering level of confidence and charm, even when he takes us through the darkest stories of the album. This is especially true of a song like “Motorcycle Drive-By,” which complements its breezy acoustic framework with a rapidly-sung account of a turbulent relationship. Jenkins sounds unhinged and off-the-cuff, but his ability to capture such mixed emotions with such vocal sleight of hand is pretty incredible.
The music itself mostly lies within the confines of alternative rock, post-grunge, and power pop, but the quality of the songwriting doesn’t really lie in the genre-labeling itself. Rather, it’s the incredibly diverse variants on these genres that keeps things fresh. The guitar parts may be pretty simple, but they also land in that sweet spot between a satisfying low-end crunch and lightly floating leads, unveiling both aggression and atmosphere at just the right moments. There’s a lot of personality in Kevin Cadogan’s playing; just listen to the power of a few well-placed acoustic guitar chords in “How’s It Gonna Be,” or how emotionally draining the singular ringing guitar lines are when you start up the closing ballad “God of Wine.” Admittedly, the rhythm section of the band is not quite as distinct or memorable, and it becomes quite clear from the get-go that the true heart of Third Eye Blind in their heyday was the vocal/guitar duo of Jenkins and Cadogan. But they do have their moments: Michael Urbano handles the off-time bridge of “Losing a Whole Year” in stellar fashion with his solid drumwork, and Aaron Salazar has the ability to make his bass sound like a second guitar with the gliding melodies of “Graduate” and “Semi-Charmed Life.”
The way I see it,
Third Eye Blind was the sound of a band who could somehow transcend trends by using those same trends to their advantage. Sunny, nostalgic power pop and powerchord-laden post-grunge were common among bands back in the mid-late 90s, but Third Eye Blind transformed a commercial sound into an emotional powerhouse by virtue of group chemistry and unabashed honesty. Perhaps the reason this album is so nostalgic is because it so delicately and finely tackles many of the subjects and emotions we faced through adolescence and early adulthood, even for the people didn’t grow up with the music itself. To be honest, the subject matter
does still hold up beautifully, regardless of age or life experience. This record is a strong dose of reality, dished up by a band who could approach reality with confidence and a youthful grin.
