They went through some tumultuous times in their career, but have always found a way to persevere and come out the other side. Like most of us, I grew up listening to Third Eye Blind - hearing them on at every turn and constantly singing the hook of “Semi-Charmed Life.” It was impossible to not have this band in your head. Stephan sucks, but you didn't need my story to confirm that.“Well the truth is, I’m just glad I’m here,” Stephan Jenkins exclaims on the opening of “Ways,” the third song on the upcoming album Screamer (due out this Friday, October 18th via Megaforce Records). He gets up, walks around, talks to a few people (I got a few words in, because I've been a fan for X years), and he bounces. Brings out his guitar, talks up his new album while picking nonsense, plays only half of 3 songs, talks about how nervous he is and how that environment is so weird for him, and decides he's done. So no joke, it was me and 15 others + the Spotify team there waiting to hang out with Stephan. They invited 50 of the top 3eb listeners in NYC and only 15 people showed up. Spotify does this fans first thing and one day I got this email that was like, "Stephan Jenkins of 3eb invites you to a private meet and greet and mini-concert at Spotify Headquarters in NYC" and I was like wait, this isn't real.
Only telling this story because it's relevant here, not trying to humble brag haha. Hearing the backend of the S/T for the first time – in 2019 – felt like listening to a classic. I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to uncover and admire some of these gems. And I’m even having a lot of fun with OOTV.
Blue is still chock-full of nostalgia, but a pretty infectious (and experimental) pop album, end to end. There really isn’t a single throwaway track on there, right? It’s bizarre to hear and appreciate something that so many people have been cherishing for over 2 decades. Now, years later I find myself irritated by my own negligence – that S/T is a true gem. At some point my parents owned a copy of Blue that stayed in the family car, so I dismissed it as Mom Rock and left it at that. It floated around inside of a Napster folder while I graduated elementary school, and to this day I’m still a little sick of it.
Growing up, Semi-Charmed was very little beyond a quirky pop hit to me.
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