The Make Three “You, Me & The Make Three”
This New Jersey band is led by vocalist/guitarist Jerry Lardieri, and he’s joined by Peter Horvath (The Anderson Council) on bass and Chris Ryan on drums. This strong rock and roll, as the guitars blare out on “Against The Tide” recalls riff-heavy bands like The Successful Failures and The Well Wishers. “Black Cloud” and “Under My Skin” have a late ’90s indie vibe akin to The Lemonheads. Of course, The Anderson Council’s shadow falls over a few songs like “Emily Strange,” and “Local Scene” with its driving rhythm.
At the mid-point, it smartly slows down the tempo for “Hurry Up and Wait,” as a welcome pause it shortly takes off again. This is meat and potatoes rock that fits neatly in your mix with those other bands I mentioned earlier. Does it innovate or distinguish itself? Not really, but it’s not bland either, and after a few listens some of these songs will stick with you. Check it out.
Super 8 “HOOPLA”
Paul ‘Trip’ Ryan is back. It starts with a low-key charmer “For My Friends,” a dedication with soaring strings, and preps the listening audience for some blissful fun. “Susan Revolving” has a Sgt. Pepper-styled bass groove that makes it easy to love. The mellow vibes continue with “All My Worries” with its Lennonesque quality, referring to the calm zen-like state when he was in the “submarine.” From here it gets less Beatlesque, but the spirit remains very trippy, hippy, and idyllic on “Out of My Head,” “Jennifer Anne,” and especially “Our Town.” The fab references continue with the jangling love songs “Be My Yoko” and “Moments In Time.”
The tone is very consistent throughout the album, and maybe that’s what the problem is. The songs tend to blend into one another, creating almost a jangling soundtrack to put you to sleep. The previous album Universal Journey had some fuzzier guitar songs mixed in to prevent this. ’60s pop enthusiasts will enjoy this for sure, but others might want to start with the last album. Still, it remains music that deserves to be heard.