With an infectious chorus of "Doo-doo-doo, Doo-doot-doot-doo," but not-so-cheery lyrics about a crystal meth addicted ex-girlfriend, Third Eye Blind's "Semi-Charmed Life" is one unusual hit summer song. Steven Jenkins' Liam Gallagher-inflected vocals and intense lyrics, which read as good as they sound (maybe better), meshed with guitarist Kevin Cadogan's edgy pop melodies have exploded Third Eye Blind out of their San Francisco base and onto the national alternative charts in, well, the blink of an eye.
Seldom has a band with words this smart, music this melodic and cranky hooks this sweet and bumpy taken hold of the masses so quickly. "Semi-Charmed
Life" is one of the fastest climbing songs in the relatively short history of the alternative radio charts.
It's been a long, steady and twisted climb for the band though. On their first tour a few months back, supposedly opening for James, Third Eye Blind found themselves in the awkward but enviable position of headlining the dates after James' lead vocalist injured himself and couldn't continue. With their single and album taking off, they lowered the ticket price and played as headliners in the same venues. "It was great," enthuses guitarist Cadogan. "We were able to play some pretty large venues for our first time out [on tour]."
A nice break but one that didn't come overnight. Singer/lyricist Jenkins and guitarist songwriter Cadogan met four years ago as both were knocking around the Bay Area music scene. Bass player Arion Salazar and drummer Brad Hargreaves came on board shortly thereafter. Their intricate wordplay hung from catchy songs, stuffed into meaty melodic hooks evolved by the most natural method: band improvisation. "I like singers who can improvise vocals over melodies," explains Cadogan softly. "Steven has a really good talent for that. The basis for the songs comes from a spontaneous place." But Jenkins' creative, intelligent and often downbeat lyrics, sizzling with poetic images, don't necessarily make for immediate crowd sing-alongs. "It was hard for us in the beginning when people weren't familiar with our music because they [the audience] couldn't immediately catch on to what Steven was saying. Other bands were shouting the same things over and over again. If you look at the lyric booklet, there's about three times as many words to each song as there are in other bands' songs."
Phew! I'll say. Printed in (third?) eye-straining, headache-inducing small--really small--print, the lyrics hold up so strongly on their own that it's hard to imagine carving melodies around them. Let alone melodies that explode out of the radio with the hum-ability of "Semi-Charmed Life." But that's Third Eye Blind's ultimate strength. Songsmith Cadogan's canny way with licks, hooks and tasteful guitar lines that pulse and throb, along with Jenkins' words and smooth yet earnest delivery, bring these propulsive songs into a pop/alternative format ready for a new kind of rocking. Unlike the obtuse word games of R.E.M., where the lyrics are so vague that there's any number of ways to interpret them, Jenkins' poem/songs are clearly yet smartly about something. They may start out as spontaneous, stream-of-consciousness ramblings, but they end up as wise, savvy and skewed examinations of the darker side of life, love and addictions, both physical and psychological.
It's a gutsy move, slamming these intellectual concepts into text-heavy tunes with choruses that dare you not to sing along, but it's what forms the concept of Third Eye Blind's visionary outlook. This is a band that refuses to let theselves be molded into something that they don't feel comfortable with. And by the looks of their "overnight" four year climb to next big thing status, it's working. They've got 20/20 vision and have set their sights on blinding success.
(c) Music Monitor, '97