THIRD EYE BLIND: "Dopamine"

Rating: RRRR
Label: Mega Collider 2015
Review by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom

Dopamine is a smashing return to the fray for Third Eye Blind and their ringleader, Mr. Stephan Jenkins. Why, you ask? The answer, to keep things sweet and short, there is a wicked sense of spontaneity and playfulness in the complexity of the compositions. Huh? Well. I never told you it would be easy. But please do stay for a bit longer and I'll try to explain my rambling.

Make simplicity look simple yet exciting, one of the hardest things to do. There lies the ability to appeal to as many music fans as possible. Dopamine come bursting through your loudspeakers like a hungry pack of wolves in search of energy and food. But surely this can never measure up their early days and efforts, you ask? Understandable, considering their career and selling over 12 million records worldwide. However, I do not always agree. It's always damned if you do, damned if you don't, at this point anyhow [like people complaining about Def Leppard sounding like Def Leppard... or not].

It all comes down to the quality of songwriting. They rip through the new songs with the gusto you usually expect only on the (in hindsight) classic debut from the much younger new act. You would hail them as new kings if they started out today with this album. Sure enough. Get Me Out Of Here, echo and reek of David Bowie and there's a little bit of Ziggy Stardust on several tracks. But it's so nicely done and executed. Moody love songs, bitter pills, and catchy tunes in the grand tradition of USA Radio Pop met original UK goth (The Cure).

In fact. The songs literally bounce off each other making the whole album like a massive fun pinball machine. Time goes by like 'that' and all of a sudden it's full stop with the jumping track of Say It (wait for the comeback of the beat though). No. It's not their debut album. Yes. It's one fun song after the other. The sound has progressed, but the hooks are plenty.
thirdeyeblind.com