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Three Fantastic - Three Fantastic
- I have a problem. When "hard rockers" start screaming to sound, well... "hard", I start to laugh. The cliche of unshaven, unkempt, armband wearing, head thrashing misunderstood rockers is so far gone that Kurt Cobain might have even been embarrassed if he around to see where alternative music has gone since he unceremoniously passed the torch.
Coming out of Conroe, Texas and screaming like jazzers on "rock" is garage/punk rock quartet Three Fantastic and their debut self titled full length CD. Lead singer Charles Peters screams appropriately, curses enough so the audience knows he's seriously pissed and envelope pushing, and then swears some more in case we missed the first few expletives (I refer specifically to "WW II"). The rest of the group, Kelly Doyle on guitar, Evan Groeschel on bass, and David Taschery on the kit, keep Peters company in the unfocused exasperation, and somewhere in the middle of this album they evoked a little exasperation in me as well.
What I realized a little too late through the album is that these guys can play, and I'm not certain it's totally my fault that I missed this. If you search under the detritus of power chord strumming, "dirty" effects, and unbalanced drums, there's actually something there. So can anyone please explain to me why it feels like they're actually going out of their way to suppress all their better instincts?
Some reviewers have made reference to the fact that there is a lineage of jazz within their version of rock and that's all well and good, but all good music employs all forms of good music. It shouldn't be a notable footnote that you can hear the jazz influences. What is notable is that with all their apparent work to develop something "different" and unique, they forgot to actually do that.
Guitarist Doyle occasionally has these great little moments of solitude and melody ("Pretty Girls"), but nothing much comes of them as they're disregarded as a forethought and not at all thematic, and that's also a running problem with this group. Most of their songs, while I'm sure they're trying to be abrasive and knock us on our ass with the abrupt changes and mood modulations, what really happens is the feeling more of a collage of riffs pieced together during rehearsal sessions that seem to only fleetingly make sense.
These guys need to take a note from one of the originators of origination, Eric Clapton.
Not to be a classical nerd, but I need to now reference the immortal "Layla". It stands as an example that you can have great guitar playing, original guitar playing, reference classical and jazz music, and have outstanding musical direction that carries the efforts through the entirety of the song, and all the while, still keep the audience on its toes trying to keep up with what you're putting out at them.
I realize all this is coming from a pair of ears that are not innately wired to appreciate this type of music, but I'd like to think that I'm capable of recognizing something that's good, and something that's not quite. It's always difficult as a reviewer to dislike something that you're already worried about initially not understanding, as you're not always certain which part of you is weighing in; the innate dislike, or the impartial ear. Whichever way you try to go, you're never going to be completely certain in such a situation.
What I can conclude however after sucking it up if you will, is that I can't recommend this album. That said, I am honestly curious to see what these guys do next, because with all their apparent abilities, I'm hoping there's a producer out there who will decide to overhaul these guys into something more clear and potent.
Reviewer: David Fallo
new
Reviewer's Rating: 6.5
Reader's Rating: 10.00
Reader's Votes: 1
Added: 20-Mar-2006
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