Seven Mary Three - Day&Nightdriving Review
Posted by Mitch Michaels on 02.21.2008
After fifteen years together, Seven Mary Three is still hammering out albums, but how will this new venture into the worlds of alternative lite and alt-country stack up?
My Story
Anyone who reads my reviews or other music content will recognize that I’m a big fan of 90’s alterna-rock. While the 90’s rock scene yielded several bands that are still relevant today (Foo Fighters, Sheryl Crow, Pearl Jam), it also saw just as many band’s that were slapped with the “one-hit wonder” label. Acts like Nada Surf, Marcy Playground, Harvey Danger, Del Amitri, and on and on have long since been reduced to their “one hit”, and I think that it’s usually undeserved and unfair. One of the best bands to get labeled “one-hit wonder” is Seven Mary Three, who had a Top 40 hit with “Cumbersome”, but never reentered that area again. While this may be enough for the desperate and usually unfunny talking heads at VH1 to brand the group a one and done oddity, it hardly captures 7M3’s entire body of work, which has included seven other Top 40 Mainstream Rock hits over the past decade. But I guess I’m getting ahead of myself.
The point is, Seven Mary Three are now six albums into a great but often overlooked career. What will their latest release add to their legacy?
Their Story
The Seven Mary Three story began in 1992, when singer Jason Ross and guitarist Jason Pollock met while attending William & Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia. The pair began performing together at local coffeehouses and clubs and eventually grew into a full band when bassist Casey Daniel and drummer Giti Khalsa came on board. The band, dubbed Seven Mary Three – reference to the classic cop show CHiPs, began touring further and further away from home.
By 1994, 7M3 had recorded a demo album, Chum, which began to see airplay on college rock stations. Their big break came when one of the demos, “Cumbersome”, caught fire at an Orlando radio station. This brought the band to the attention of indie label Mammoth Records, who had only recently embarked on a deal with Atlantic Records. Mammoth quickly signed 7M3 up.
The group entered the studio quickly after, re-recording the Chum material for their official debut. The set of grunge riffs and rockers was dubbed American Standard and released in September of 1995. As expected, “Cumbersome” became a huge national hit, going #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart and reaching #39 on the Hot 100. Not only that, but “Cumbersome” has proved to be enduring hit, as it still reports 500 plays per week on Rock radio. Two other singles, the eerie “Water’s Edge” and the head nodding “My My”, were Top 20 Mainstream Rock hits. American Standard reached #25 on the album charts, and by May of 1996, the record was certified platinum.
The band followed up with 1997’s angst filled RockCrown. While RockCrown had its share of hit singles (the title track and “Lucky” both reached the Mainstream Rock Top 40), it couldn’t quite measure up to the success of Seven Mary Three’s debut. The frustration from this developed into tension within the band, which took its toll on the recording of the band’s follow-up. Frontman Jason Ross has since stated that, during the recording of Orange Ave., members of the band weren’t even speaking to each other. This comes through in listening to the album, as it’s a mixed bag of big rock numbers and slower, acoustic cuts. One of the more slowed down tracks, “Over Your Shoulder”, became the band’s third Top 10 Mainstream Rock hit, but that didn’t help Orange Ave. rise past #121 upon its release in the summer of 1998.
Following a disappointing album, Seven Mary Three disappeared for a while. During a three year quiet period, founder Jason Pollock quit the band and was replaced by guitarist Thomas Juliano. 7M3 returned in 2001 with the much brighter sounding The Economy Of Sound. Sound unfortunately followed the trend of hit rock single/low charting album, as the record never made it past #178, despite the Top 10 Mainstream Rock hit “Wait” and a second Top 40 Rock single in “Sleepwalking”. This would be 7M3’s last look at the Mainstream Rock charts for a while, as well as their final album for Mammoth Records.
Seven Mary Three returned in 2004 with Dis/Location, another grunge rock tour de force released on the ill-fated DRT Entertainment label. DRT didn’t do the band any favors (the album nor its only single, “Without You Feels” charted), so the band left and began working on their sixth album while shopping around for a new label.
In late 2007, 7M3 signed with indie Bellum Records, where they prepared to release their next record. The first single, “Last Kiss”, was released to radio in early February. Seven Mary Three has tour dates scheduled for the rest of February, as well as a handful of spring and summer shows. For more info, check out their official website.
The Album
On February 19, 2008, Bellum Records and Icon MES released Day&Nightdriving, the sixth studio album by Seven Mary Three and their first on Bellum. It is the follow-up to 2004’s Dis/Location. The album is available on CD as well as via iTunes.
The Band: 8.0
Jason Ross: vocals, guitars
Casey Daniel: bass
Giti Khalsa: drums
Thomas Juliano: guitars, vocals
Back in 1998, when Seven Mary Three released Orange Ave., the dichotomy within the band was all too obvious. While frontman Jason Ross just wanted to rock, co-founder and co-songwriter Jason Pollock seemed more content to come up with intimate acoustic numbers. This struggle for a new sound eventually led to Pollock’s exit, which was followed by two very rocking albums. It appears that the inevitable wasn’t swayed, however, and merely postponed, as Day&Nightdriving finds the band once again on the threshold of Triple A radio-friendly acoustic and pop numbers. And it’s a welcome change, because as well as 7M3 could rock (and they rock very hard, indeed), they’ve really explored that sound as far as it will go.
Part of this change could be attributed to guitarist Thomas Juliano, who has stepped up to co-write several of the songs on the new album with Ross. He’s also credited as one of the producers, along with Ross and Brian Paulson, who has worked with alt-country acts like Wilco and Son Volt and their progenitor Uncle Tupelo. Paulson’s influence is apparent from the start, as the acoustic strum of “Last Kiss” provides for 7M3’s warmest sounding album opener ever.
Of course, it’s not all acoustics and a “tender side”. Ross and the boys still know how to rock, digging back to their obvious Pearl Jam influence, as well as a new appreciation for the harder college rock of the 80’s. Ross still holds that 90’s alternative timber in his voice, too, while the rhythm section of Khalsa and Daniel continue to provide a blast of energy even after 13 years and plenty of ups and downs. Tie this all together with Juliano’s atmospheric fills and apt riffs, and you have another great rock experience from this band that is thankfully growing beyond their original sound.
The Songs: 8.0
1. Last Kiss
2. Laughing Out Loud
3. Was A Ghost
4. Dreaming Against Me
5. Hammer & A Stone
6. Break The Spell
7. You Think Too Much
8. Strangely At Home Here
9. She Wants Results
10. Upside Down
11. Dead Days In The Kitchen
12. Things I Stole
Day&Nightdriving kicks off with the acoustic strum of “Last Kiss”, signifying the sonic change in Seven Mary Three. Of course, less than a minute later, the song blasts into a jangly riff-rock chorus, proving that this band’s gonna always do what they do best. Still, it’s the subtle and momentary changes on this album that make it 7M3’s most vital sounding since possibly RockCrown. “Last Kiss” is a great, signature 7M3 song, while “Was A Ghost” kicks off with a dirty guitar riff that wouldn’t sound out of place at a Lucero concert. The mid-tempo “Dreaming Against Me” is similarly southern.
There are lots of slower moments, too, which seemingly attempt to appeal to a new audience. When alterna-lite bands like Matchbox Twenty burst onto the scene in the late-90’s, it was nearly a death knell for heavier bands like 7M3. A decade later and the band seems to finally dig that sound, as cuts like the “acoustic with a backbeat” “She Wants Results” wouldn’t sound out of place between the latest M20 and John Mayer hits. Then you have the aching piano number “Hammer & A Stone”, which features Jason Ross at his most intimate.
In all, Day&Nightdriving is a great package of Seven Mary Three’s signature post-grunge rock, Brian Paulson’s alterna-country touches and a newfound appeal to the Triple A audiences across America. It’s a great listen, and it sounds like success.
The 411: Seven Mary Three have never been able to repeat the success of “Cumbersome”, and on Day&Nightdriving, they’ve finally quit trying. It’s a new turn for the band, as they embrace acoustic guitars and intimate songs with great results. There are still plenty of riffs for fans to enjoy on songs like “Last Kiss” and the jangly “Was A Ghost”, but the experimentation of the country-leaning “Dreaming Against Me” and the back porch recording “Things I Stole”, along with the poppier cuts (“She Wants Results”), are bound to appeal to an even wider audience. A refreshingly progressive album with only a touch of 90’s nostalgia.
