“I believe in the sand beneath my toes, the beach gives a feeling, an earthy feeling. I believe in the faith that grows.” These quotes were one reason why I liked Third Eye Blind, but last Thursday I found many more reasons. Here’s my story.
Lyrical syncopation. Those are two words that describe Stephan Jenkins’ singing. Not only does he have some pipes, but his delivery is quite unique for rock singers. For instance, the well placed words in Palm Reader’s verses and especially the chorus are noteworthy. Read the lyrics, listen to the song a few times, then try to sing in his timing and you’ll see what I’m saying. All throughout their songs, Jenkins is singing and utilizing the intriguing vocal styles of sprechgesang and sprechstimme.
One draw for me is Stephan’s honesty and transparency. Real quick. Can you think of any other songs that address the tragedy of (potential) suicide like Jumper does? A crowd favorite, they played that song on Thursday at the Hollywood Palladium and used the bridge to play several different instrumental solos. It was quite cool. Plus, whenever a band can make only a handful of notes sound really cool, you have to hand it to them. Instrumental syncopation, you could say. Not to mention, How’s it Gonna Be; a great song about the reality and sadness of a relationship that is soon to end.
If you were the singer in a rock band, what would you sing about? No really, think about it. Would you only sing about your successes? Would you admit your failures? Could you tell about your heartbreaking break-ups? How about your hopes and dreams? What about intimate issues? Despite your hesitations, when I listen to 3EB, I hear an uncensored fellow telling us the stories of his life to brilliantly beautiful guitar melodies and it’s an intriguing and compelling package.
Now, if you’re the kind of person who shudders when they hear veiled references to oral sex, then maybe 3EB isn’t for you because Stephan does this exactly twice (that I know of), once for each sex. He drops exactly one curse word on Crystal Baller. Would you censor yourself if you sang in a rock band? Oh yeah, you’ve never cursed, right? Keep it real. Anyone ever tell you that?
Jenkins also makes some references to marijuana, crystal meth and cocaine. I appreciate his honesty as every reference is simply sandwiched inside a story from his past. None of his references are mantras or anthems about how wonderful drugs are, how they never cause any problems or how everybody should do them. Nope, no naïve pie-in-the-sky invitations. He simply did them and he’s mentioning them in his stories because they were parts of the story of his life. Simple as that.
Whether it’s “bop, bop-bop, bop, bop-bop”, “do do do, do do-do do” or “oh, ooo, oh ooo”, Jenkins has a way with sounds. Numerous songs have melodic notes like those. Countering Eddie Vedder’s guttural noises, Stephan’s are equally as cool, but less screamy and much more upbeat and heady. He can also effortlessly (and unashamedly) move from his normal vocal range to falsetto. Although he does it well and in possibly a quarter of his songs, he doesn’t wear out the effect.
“Freud said that love was a good psychosis . . . he’s a creep and we all know that he probably made it up,” are some of the lyrics in the new anthem of my life. No, seriously. I think this is my song. While my wife threatened to file for divorce last week (for lame reasons I won’t get into here or else I might end up convincing myself to go file papers myself) and even got the paperwork from the court, I’m listening to this song and thinking it says something special just to me. In fact, to make matters more interesting (well, to me anyway), while I was taking my crash course in 3EB songs before the concert, I picked up my guitar and played to this song without ever hearing it before. It probably turned out fine, but I was reeling from the untimely passing of Michael Jackson at that time . . . so I had to multi-task. What kind of world do I live in where I have to multi-task like that? Anyhow, I digress and I’m sure you’re dying to hear the lyrics from my new favorite song . . .
“Believe. In me. And this lie. Tell me everything will be all right. Cuz it’s so good…….to believe…….we could turn it all around in a night. You and I. Yeah, it’s so good, but you turn my hope into a weapon.” Two days later, my wife and I patched things up (although they’re nearly back to their normal, unhappy self as of 6pm today). So, the song continues to mean something to me . . . maybe. After I get this paper out, I’m sure 3EB will release their grip on me a bit. Like a musician, this paper must be written in order for me to set my thoughts straight about this band . . . that’s pretty much why I write anything. To decipher. And in case you’re wondering about this song’s original intent and meaning, rumor has it that it was about Jenkins’ breakup with Charlize Theron.
Not only is Third Eye Blind vocally impressive they’re also musically impressive. If you only know their hits, you may assume they overuse power chords, but if you listen to their entire catalog, you’ll know they’re much more than that. Sure, the three power chords in Never Let You Go could stick in your head until you pick up a guitar and play them, but they also have songs like Faster where guitarist Tony Fredianelli plucks multiple strings at once with quick muting – a cool technique. From the picking to the quickly dampened power chords on Crystal Baller, they have a gem there. “I can show you how it ends,” Jenkins says.
The reggae style upstrokes in Wake for Your Souls is different and cool. The soft lullaby called Self Righteous, along with the female accompaniment is a refreshing departure from their signature sound. Fredianelli also makes good use of harmonics in several songs. The mixture of single strums, picking and three quick strums works quite nicely in Deep Inside of You. If I had a gifted electric guitar student right now, I’d be putting together a licks sheet from their music.
On Thursday, I was preparing to go to the Third Eye Blind concert at the Hollywood Palladium. I don’t like going to concerts if I don’t know a bunch of the songs being played, so I finally found time to download their Out of the Vein album and their Red Star EP and I was really impressed. Although I had their greatest hits, I only listened to three or four songs before that day. Now, they must have 15 cool songs that I’d listen to any time. Not to mention I’ll be teaching one of my bass guitar students from their bass lines, tomorrow. Yep, it’s a tab file I just started called, “Cool Bass Lines32 – Third Eye Blind.” Maybe I’ll post this one online, even though I never post my tabs online.
Even though this article could have ended with the previous paragraph, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give their bassist and drummer some props. The bassist Abe Millet (who is filling in for the original bassist Arion Salazar while he is on some sort of leave of absence) is probably underrated because he often harmonizes with the electric guitarist; which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I don’t know if they write the bass lines or the electric guitar parts first, but either way, when the bass backs up the guitar like that, it adds some nice punch and emphasis. They certainly aren’t a band that features the bass guitar, but they do make good use of it.
Brad Hargreaves is an excellent drummer, laying down one of the most recognizable drum beats at the beginning of Semi-Charmed Life. I like to listen to and examine the way bands begin the songs they write. That’s one cool drum beat and it gives that “off and running” feeling from the beginning. Brad also throws in plenty of cool rolls and intros in various other songs. Well done, mate.
So, as if you cared, that’s why I like Third Eye Blind. Feels good to figure it out. Who’s next?
