lambchops's Full Review: American Standard by Seven Mary Three
Time after time, bands burst onto the music scene with a massively successful single (or two). Seven Mary Three is just one of those kinds of bands.
Formed in 1993, the Virginia-based band released their debut album American Standard on Atlantic in 1995. The album (however mediocre it may be) went on to become the band’s most successful to date. Their sound is reminiscent of early 1990’s grunge. But, instead of deconstructing the guitars and yowling, the band sounds very put together. The foursome consisting of Jason Ross (vocals, guitar), J. Pollock (guitar, vocals), Casey Daniel (bass), and Giti Khalsa (drums) was really nothing more than a garage band who momentarily touched greatness. And, sadly, apart from weak comparisons of Seven Mary Three to grunge forefathers like Pearl Jam there is little to say.
In all, American Standard is nothing spectacular. The two singles it spawned ”Water’s Edge” and ”Cumbersome” are decent rock tracks. Besides those two songs, there is little of note to their debut effort. Honestly, it wouldn’t be the smartest thing to run out and buy this album. In fact, if you get it for free you may want to think twice about listening to each of the eleven songs. Fortunately, the band (record company?) had the foresight to place the best two songs in the first two slots. It’s very easy to simply shut the CD off after hearing them.
American Standard proves without a shadow of a doubt that rock and roll is nothing without good lyrics. Sure, guitars and drums are important but the music is only half of the equation. Songs are about love and loathing and pity across the board. Of particular uselessness are songs like ”Margaret”, ”Roderigo” and the aptly titled ”Lame”. But alas, don’t forget the two decent songs here. If the album was made of a bunch of tracks like ”Water’s Edge” and ”Cumbersome” the CD as a whole would be better…not much, but at least I could stand listening to more than two songs.
”Water’s Edge” is the first track. It’s heavy rock and roll as sung by a bar or garage band. I give them props for them at least not trying to do a cover of an old track…it could be worse. The music is mediocre here, but the story-telling quality of the lyrics makes the track interesting. It begins relatively quiet, but explodes as the subject and song progresses.
The second (and only other stomach-able track) is ”Cumbersome”. This is the one I like most from the album. With a hollow sounding guitar, the song introduces another song talking about love and loss and past demons. ”Cumbersome” is one of those strangely mid-tempo and awkward tracks. I like the guitars and Ross’s vocals, but beyond that there isn’t anything too amazing here. The song just happened to be in the right place at the right time to become a hit.
Seven Mary Three has released three subsequent albums. None of the progressively more musically acceptable albums has been able to garner much of an audience or to even match the success of their 1995 debut. These albums are 1997’s Rock Crown, 1998’s Orange Ave., and 2001’s The Economy of Sound. This Virginia band will go down in history as nothing more than a tiny blip on the face of music. They didn’t introduce anything new or revolutionize anything even in the clichéd post-grunge era of the mid 1990’s. Seven Mary Three is the epitome of a one hit wonder.
Track Listing:
1. Water's Edge
2. Cumbersome
3. Roderigo
4. Devil Boy
5. My My
6. Lame
7. Headstrong
8. Anything
9. Margaret
10. Punch In Punch Out
11. Favorite Dog
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