*** Third Eye Blind

THIRD EYE BLIND

(Elektra)

Guitarist Kevin Cadogan conducts pop history lessons and the rest of the band sit at the head of the class. On "Graduate," Cadogan opens with a jazzy riff that explodes into arena power chords, big pedals, and slide effects on the solos. He combines unlikely hardcore crunches and pop hooks, dropping suddenly from storms of feedback and anthemic runs to pristine acoustic bridges on the punch-drunk opener, "Losing a Whole Year," and the tempo-challenged "Narcolepsy," in which he repeats the opening with several guitars. The effect on "Thanks a Lot" and "Burning Man" is a mix of pop balladry and heavy prog-rock orchestration, a combination of the Silencers and Sunny Day Real Estate.

Vocalist Stephan Jenkins has produced the album cleanly with Cadogan front and center, and he slyly phrases his dark lyrical sense to match Cadogan's radical pop shifts. Jenkins can harmonize like the Railway Children or rave like a local opener for Seven Seconds. "Semi-Charmed Life" features his storytelling at a manic pace, the sweet refrains and cheery harmonies a novel way to tell us about speed addiction. This band re-dress pop in a full metal jacket.

-- Craig Thorn