In 1979, KC & The Sunshine Band released a ballad called “Please Don’t Go.” At first listen, it was your run of the mill, schmaltzy ballad that just about anyone could have released around that time, but if you listen to it within the context of when the song was released, it has a deeper, sadder meaning. Not only was the disco era dying an agonizing death, but the band themselves were becoming less and less relevant in the pop world. The conviction in the vocals sounds as if the singer is begging the world to keep them around longer and not abandon them like yesterday’s leftovers. Begging. How does this correlate with Third Eye Blind’s latest, and possibly last, album Dopamine? The same begging and cold hard reality of being irrelevant on “Please Don’t Go” is written all over it.
You can’t possibly talk about Third Eye Blind without mentioning “Semi-Charmed Life.” The salty sweet collage pop rock, sing-song anthem of early 1997, was enough to not only put the band on the map, but enough to earn them opening gigs for the likes of Oasis and U2. It was next to impossible to turn on the radio or MTV without hearing that infectious hook. It’s slightly risqué lyrics (that went right over my head, being I was 13 years old upon it’s release) was enough to be a little edgier than the band’s competition Matchbox 20 or Savage Garden, but far more sugary and harmless than the alternative bands burning up the modern rock charts at the time like The Foo Fighters. Third Eye Blind wasn’t really a one-hit-wonder band, but with each single following “Semi-Charmed Life” the public seemed to care less and less. Nothing they released ever matched the success of that debut single, and it’s been a steady downward spiral ever since.
Dopamine is not exactly a bad record, there are a few times here and there that shows Stephen Jenkins is an adequate lyricist and capable of writing a decent pop song. The opening track and lead single “Everything Is Easy” is a simple, light, summer pop tune but no where near close to keep them relevant among other contemporary pop acts that this would probably be marketed to. The title track “Dopamine” is pretty decent too, but just like everything the band has released since 1997, you will forget within 20 minutes of hearing it, which brings up one of the biggest problems with the album and Third Eye Blind in general: it’s all pretty average. Dopamine is front loaded with all of the best songs at the beginning almost like they knew that whoever buys it, will not bother to listen to it in it’s entirety. That’s a really sad thought. I’m sure they care somewhat or they would have called it quits years ago, but it just feels like they know they are beating a dead horse but for some masochistic reason, they want to give it just one more try even just to humor themselves. In fact, a few months ago, Jenkins tweeted that this would be the band’s last record.
On the song “Shipboard Cook” Jenkins yells “I’m always a ghost” in the hook as if he is no longer haunted by trying to recreate his band’s glory days, but now succumbed to the realization that they were in fact a glorified one hit wonder band and everything else has been either too average to reach previous success or just a waste of time. Although it’s not the best song on Dopamine (or even a good song, for that matter) but it’s almost endearing to the point where I want the album to be good. At least that way, their farewell record could be a nice bookend to their nearly twenty year run. In the same way KC & The Sunshine Band begged and pleaded with pop culture for relevance, Third Eye Blind are the underdog in their own repertoire. They are trying hard to play to their strengths, as evident with the song “Rites Of Passage,” being as close to “Semi-Charmed Life,” without selling completely out and going for the obvious cash grab of nostalgia.
Overall Dopamine is a pretty average album with a few listenable pop tunes, and a handful of shoulder shrugs that will in no way shape, or form, or convince any new fans to check out previous Third Eye Blind albums, much less become life-long fans. However it will please their core fan base with predictable hooks and harmless word play that they have been known for. Third Eye Blind hang around in their wheel house and know exactly what works and what doesn’t. I actually give them props for staying true to themselves in that aspect. It’s nowhere near as bad as I was expecting but nowhere as charming or catchy as their first record, but just like that KC & The Sunshine Band song, they already know that.
Rating: 2/5