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All Music Guide

by Stewart Mason

Recorded in early 2000 but delayed by the collapse of their original label, the debut by Detroit psych-poppers They Come in Threes is more than worth the wait. A delightfully daffy collection of quirky pop tunes delivered in boyish three-part harmonies over twisty melodies anchored by Roe Peterhans' collection of vintage synthesizers, Blindsided, Part One is one of the more enjoyable debuts of 2001. Singer/songwriter Chris McInnis has a knack for leavening the hall-of-mirrors twists and turns of his '60s-inspired melodies with the judicious use of creamy three-part harmonies and other retro pop touches, like an unexpected lift from Nelson Riddle's score to the 1962 film Lolita in the backing vocals of the galloping "Reddish." The lyrics are equally inspired, as on the goofy "Rubber Band Collection." The results are simultaneously backwards-glancing and resolutely fresh, akin to art pop stalwarts like XTC and 10cc as well as cult heroes such as Game Theory or John Southworth. Solidly entertaining from start to finish, Blindsided, Part One is a terrific debut that leaves one waiting for part two.

Issue #53 Mar/Apr 2002

by Patrick Berkery

At last, a neo-new-wave band you don't want to choke the living shit out of with its skinny ties. Though it's obvious that this Detroit band is pretty well-versed in its Wire, Cars, Missing Persons and Eno, there's nothing really kitsch or preciously throwback about They Come In Threes. Not even when the topic at hand is something as harebrained as a "Rubber Band Collection" (a more brilliant song about the sheer joy of elasticity you'll never hear). The hooks are plenty smart, the arrangements run from coy to spit-shined and the playing is right where it needs to be - at the cross section of 1981 and 2001 - to pull off this kind of proposition. As vocalist Chris McInnis pouts on the mangled-guitar, rhythm box and synth symphony "Literatourist," "You won't get to the core of us/Until the chorus." Indeed, it's in the 10-track album's mostly stellar choruses that They Come In Threes shows its mettle: a joyous carnival of "da da da"s on the otherwise shadowy "He's Got Stories," a half-time, childlike singalong on which McInnis' voice just barely stays on the good side of fey and flat (aptly titled opener "Dynamo"). And you know what? The verses and bridges ain't too sahbby, either.

October 2001

Mmmmm, mmmm...what a refreshingly UNIQUE band. This is an amazing debut album by a band that really doesn't sound like any other we have heard in the past few years. Detroit's They Come In Threes play slightly surreal peculiar pop music. The band's strange chord progressions and subtle discordant sound is counterbalanced by some decidedly simple and straightforward melodies. Unlike most modern-day pop bands, these folks are not afraid to try different strategies in their work. This makes for what some folks may mistake for "difficult music." But in all actuality, this band' s music flows by easily and can be taken in large unhealthy doses. The compositions on Blindsided Pt. 1 are smart and heady. The vocals are, for the most part, soft and breathy...which is in direct contrast to some of the staggeringly odd instrumentation. In some ways these tunes remind us of the some the very early "new wave" bands of the mid-1970s...when people weren't afraid to play weird chords and delve into their imagination. Folks who liked early material by The Pixies as well as The Jesus and Mary Chain will most likely dig this stuff...although the band doesn't really sound too much like either. The song titles give a good hint of where these folks are coming from: "Rubber Band Collection," "June Starts With Monday," "The Rug Is On The Wall," "He's Got Stories"... Too bad everyone doesn't have the creative impulses these folks have. A damn solid album full of cool...and sometimes funny...surprises. (Rating: 5)

Immedia Wire Service

by The G-Man

There are more musical ideas in any two-minute passage of this surprising CD than in most prog-rock recorded during the past decade. A ridiculously talented 5-piece band that will have musicians of all types (especially guitarists) studying their licks with intensity and glee.

Oct/Nov 2001

This Detroit band has put together an album that mixes new wave rock and electronic pop with poetic lyrics and loose harmonies. From beginning to end this disc flows because the musical experimentation feels natural and doesn't sound bad at that. "Lamplit" contains a spaced out synth sound on top of a recorded jam session. "Literatourist" stands out as well, but all 10 tracks are great.

by Rachel May

Local music news & notes: Local band pitches album They Come In Threes, a five-piece band formed in 1997 on Detroit's southwest side, blends polished melodies and guitar-driven rock with a moody synthesizer to create a twisted pop sound. The band's former label, Spectator, folded shortly before the release of the band's debut CD, forcing it to seek other interested labels. It eventually landed on L.A.-based Fall of Rome Records, and "Blindsided Pt. 1" was released Aug. 7.

Issue #49 by Bryan Thomas	TCIT's "modern gold sounds" (so described in FOR's label bio) are a mellifluent meld of variegated sunny-side-up sixties pop influences (Beach Boys/Zombies/etc.), along with what seems an overt appreciation for diverse outfits who champion mixing "bedroom" recordings with studio sheen, bands like the Olivia Tremor Control or the Beta Band, to name but two that come to mind, or a handful of others that labels like Kindercore and Emperor Norton go bonkers for. Fans of any of the aforementioned bands and labels should find blindsided pt. 1 their cup of chamomile. Lead singer Chris McInnis' mellifluent helium-marinated vocals have a delightful way of drifting and floating away from the rest of the proceedings here, tethered neither to rhythm or melody. The best tracks -"Rubber Band Collection," "June Starts With Monday" and "The Rug Is On The Wall"- are truly neo-post-modern pop abstracts, fluttering with hallucinatory imagery, decaying chords, and experimental synth squirts and squibbles.
Delusions Of Adequacy by Thomas Prindle	We've all heard about the various indie-garage bands coming out of Detroit, and one certain sister and brother duo has all but surpassed The Strokes in their ability to capture an entire musical demography. What does that mean for another relative up-and-coming Detroit act like They Come In Threes? It means do not be just another garage band from the motor city. It means looking past local late 60s / early 70s rock references like the Stooges or MC5 and taking a look at what a band like San Francisco's Flamin' Groovies were up to around that same time. Who knows what it is that They Come in Threes did, but this debut full-length record is an amalgamation of vintage styled rock, brit-pop, and psychedelic sounds and songs titled Blindsided Pt. 1. Stirred and not shaken, this contemporary cocktail of another era's sound starts off bitter before settling into an appealing consistency of tasty songs. Why they chose the Spinal Tap-esque song "Dynamo" to lead off this album is beyond me. What sounds like a cut that didn't make it on to Break Like the Wind, the voices that appear in the song's background remind me of the scene in Spinal Tap when Nigel is picking up air traffic communications on his wireless Les Paul. However, the following song, "Rubber Band Collection," is lyrically silly but has earnest pop appeal and harmonies that appear elsewhere on this release and remind me of Papas Fritas. "June Starts with Monday" finds band members Chris McInnis, Roe Peterhans, Brandon White, Mark Craven, and Ryan Pritts turning up the musical phantasmagoria factor with guitar effects, synthesizer, and hand claps. With my recently discovering Parasol Records' The Witch Hazel Sound, I can not help mentioning a similarity between the two bands and a mutual appreciation of psych-pop. They Come in Threes can also mix in a little heavy with their heady style as is heard on "Lamplit" and "Reddish." My preference for the latter song as this album's best track is because of the incomprehensible lyrics (French?) and rocking pace amongst the "Oooh," "Aaaahh" and "Woo...Wa...Wa" chorused vocal parts. Original in their ability to make it out of the very crowded Detroit garage, They Come in Threes indeed surprise me on Blindsided Pt. 1.
by Thomas Schulte	Fall Of Rome Records is the portal for excellent Detroit indie rock on the West Coast. In They Come in Threes the label finds sophisticated art pop with a sense of humor and cheerful delivery. Their quirky experimentalism earned them fans and press accolades back in the Motor City and this excellent album of sophisticated power pop should do the same for them wherever they are heard. The fun quintet cuts their guitar rock with synthesizer sounds that range from garage rock organ to science fiction. (4)
by Danielle Holke	A complex, bendy adventure straight outta Detroit, They Come In Threes drives out a fine alternative to the current scene erupting from that famous ville de lauto. With one false start behind them (release was actually recorded in 2000 but first label shut down) the five-piece woos us to worship at the temple of 60s psychedelic pop with a well mingled composite of rippling guitar, vintage synth and animated yarn. The melodies are memorable; matched simultaneously with that vast landscape in your head effect and punctuated of course by a back catalogue of retro blips and blurbs. Tracks Rubber Band Collection and Lamplit are A-list for sure.
by DJ Johnson	Quirky pop that restores honor to the term "quirky." They Come In Threes are a Detroit band with incredible pop sensibilities that are most definitely retro, and yet I can't give you a single example of a band they sound like. Their song structures cannot be predicted and even if you had a schematic you probably couldn't follow exactly until you'd made the trip a few times. In fact, if you wrote the music down on paper and presented it to a music scholar, he would say "ah, fusion?" No, no! The magic pop ingredient is intangible, though the three-part harmonies are a dead giveaway at times. Another thing that makes this band unique in this time zone is that they build most of their songs on top of the unmistakably identifiable sounds of vintage synthesizers, answering the question "what if Jean Michel Jarre had joined a pop band?" If the songs aren't necessarily memorable it's only because there's far too much in each one to commit to memory. The album was recorded in 2000 for Spectator Records, which then promptly folded and left this gem gathering dust. Mark Rome caught wind of it and released it on his Fall Of Rome records, the third such rescue he's performed this year. Big round of applause for this guy. Because of him there will be fewer tragic tales of fantastic albums never seeing the light of day. As I sit listening to the sonic carnival that is "Electric Eel," I get a momentary shudder thinking this might have been another of those tales.
by Stewart Mason	Stewart Mason's Top 10 1. The Shins Oh, Inverted World (Sub Pop) 2. Nick Lowe The Convincer (Yep Roc) 3. Sigur Ros Agaetis Byrjun (Play It Again Sam) 4. Stereolab Sound Dust (Duophonic/Elektra) 5. Beachwood Sparks Once We Were Trees (Sub Pop) 6. The Minus Five Let the War Against Music Begin/The Young Fresh Fellows Because We Hate You (Mammoth) 7. They Come In Threes Blindsided Part One (Fall of Rome) 8. Mercury Rev All Is Dream (V2) 9. The Orange Alabaster Mushroom Space and Time (Hidden Agenda) 10. The Strokes Is This It