The Three 4 Tens

Music:

Member Since: 12/30/2006
Band Members: JOE TAGG-VOX-GUITAR
JAMIE MAHON-VOX-BASS
MIKE AMBS-DRUMS
JOE CANDIDI LAP-GUITAR
Sounds Like: Pop Culture Press 9/9/07, By Bill Holmes - THREE 4 TENS Down The Way (Rainbow Quartz) http://www.rainbowquartz.com The third release for Philadelphia's Three 4 Tens is probably as accessible as anything they've recorded without losing their trademark slightly askew vocal and guitar sounds in the bargain. Please forgive the oxymoronic term "modern retro", but that's about as apt a description for a band that sounds fresh yet is steeped in classic influences. Not to mention having Sides A and B on a compact disc.a parlor trick, sure, but a logical split that separates the psychedelic deep dive of the first half from the more tonal and atmospheric finish. I guess this is what happens when you tour with The Who and the Brian Jonestown Massacre and drink from both punch bowls. "All The Pretty Girls", kicks off the second side, talking glam but shrouding the melody in a feedback drone. "The Villas" is an intriguing blend of shimmering guitars cresting over a drowsy vocal duet and some sweet pedal steel work from Jamie Scythes (no wonder it sounds like an ode to Gram Parsons). "Dire Straits" is about the emotional state, not the noodling band ("keg is kicked now/ my girl she walked out.") but the best cut is the pulsating, and fuzz toned "Kill Dr. Strange". Down The Way is yet another wonderful psych-pop-garage odyssey from the Rainbow Quartz label, which seems to have cornered the market on such events.
The Three 4 Tens "Everyday", MP3 Hugger 9/6/07 - Anyone remember the sixtiestastic glee of Cosmic Rough Riders? Here was a Scottish troupe who deserved so much more, capable of producing perfect records full of splendid melodies. But then, I guess it’s happened before with the entirely great yet ultimately ignored genius of Teenage Fanclub. Well here’s another band to get your teeth into if lazy hazy drifting couplets are your bag. The Three 4 Tens have been around for over a decade producing 3 records along the way. The latest ‘Down The Way’ only came out this year and ‘Everyday’ is a track from it. This was the first record that the Philly band recorded in the winter, not that you’d know though as it’s the perfect accessory for pollen counts that are going through the roof and cider that is going to your head. KD
Philly band takes a trip. Sounding as if they have sprung, fully born, from a Nuggets box set, Philadelphia trio The Three 4 Tens (T4T for short) mine a dark seam of psychedelia. No flower children, they have no time for hippie love anthems preferring a trippier sepulchral sound referencing artists from The Doors, The Dead, The Seeds, Syd Barrett, The Rain Parade, Primal Scream and, more recently The Black Angels. For such a retrospective band the question is can they transcend the obvious influences. By and large the answer is yes. With swathes of gloom ridden organ and cosmic guitar supporting nihilistic lyrics the record is a thrill ride from start to finish. The trance like drones that suffuse the record bore into your brain. The opening “Everyday” has shimmering guitars that surround a slacker’s refusal to participate in everyday life. This segues into R.U.B.A. which lifts the album with scorching guitar lines and some really trippy keyboards a la Manzarek. “Kill Dr. Strange” takes us into a dark Syd Barrett world with fuzzed guitar and a frantic backline. “The Villas” has some amazing guitar lines that are spooked with the ghost of Jerry Garcia’s steel playing, spinechilling when played loud. Quality control loosens as the album progresses with the thrash of “A. Clean X.” pretty disposable although “I Am the King” rallies to the cause with acoustic guitars thrashing over a two line mantra “Baby all I got is all I need and with all that you got you still need me ‘cause I am the king” repeated over an ever intriguing backing. Overall a fairly convincing album which displays its influences but has a heart that thrums and throbs for the modern day. Sunday, August 19, 2007 By: Paul Kerr/americana-uk.com
Soundsxp - Alternative Music Webzine Article written by Ged M Aug 12, 2007. You’re in no doubt this is psychedelic, garage rock from the outset but with a wide range of references: the Doors and the Who to Echo and the Bunnymen and the Brian Jamestown Massacre. The most surprising reference is ‘R.U.B.A.’, which is pure Happy Mondays with its ‘lazyitis’ beat! It’s not surprising the music goes there when many of the songs are about getting stoned: “do I waste my mind?/ yeah, all the time” as ‘The Villas’ has it. The Philadelphia three-piece notionally divide their album into two sides; side A is more psychedelic while side B shows off their Strokes influence but the best track, ‘All the Pretty Girls’, which kicks off ‘side B’ combines fuzzy guitars with a hypnotic rhythm for best androgynous pop effect: “all those pretty boys look like girls/ but you know they’re boys just the same”. The retro-references are a little heavy at times but this is worth a selective listen.
Impressive third offering for the psychedelic lo-fiers from Philly. Having burst onto the scene a decade ago with a dream-start support slot with The Who on their Quadrophenia tour, word about The Three 4 Tens quickly spread, and it wasn't long before they were selling out venues in their own right. Further support slots followed with the likes of Rocket From The Crypt and, tellingly, The Brian Jonestown Massacre with whom The Three 4 Tens could fittingly be compared, and it wasn't long before a record deal was in the bag and the band released their debut album Change Is On Its Way in 2000, followed by Taking Northern Liberties in 2003. Since then though, the band have been slightly in the wilderness. Hopes are that new album Down The Way will inject new life into the band. Fortunately for all involved, that's exactly what it does. Album opener Everyday sets the stall out nicely for the rest of the album, an unassuming yet deceptively infectious track made for warm summer afternoons, R.U.B.A. threatens to be pure Doors before settling somewhere between the laidback flow of Inspiral Carpets and the organ-driven chaos of Jonathan Fire Eater, I Get High and the brilliant Kill Dr. Strange both up the tempo slightly, The Villas evokes images of Ian Brown's invertebrate mike waving, the two minute punk fury of A. Clean X. follows the torpor of All The Pretty Girls to wake everyone up again and I Am The King, the superb Dire Straits and epic closer Gold Medal Moment brings proceedings to an end. In Down The Way, The Three 4 Tens have given us a glimpse of how lazy summer days should be, lolloping about in a haze with this playing in the background. The ideal soundtrack for the sun. By: Philip Goodfellow; Subba-Cultcha, August '07
USA TODAY 2007 (LISTEN UP by Ken Barnes): Three 4 Tens, Down the Way (out now): Impressive neo-psychedelia from a Philadelphia band I hadn't previously encountered (although it's not their first record). So much good stuff out there -- I see only a fraction of it, I get to listen to only a fraction of what comes in or what I buy, and am forced to live with the knowledge that tons of great music is getting by me.

Smother Magazine, J-Sin "Psych-pop rockers the Three 4 Tens call Philadelphia their home. Bouncy melodies with gnarly guitar strums lick your face with intense yet somehow sublime rhythms. Underneath the psychedelic coating, “Down the Way” boasts a bit of a punk underbelly that when itched could belie the groups Stooges influence—often the group sounds like XTC and the British invasion all mashed up." (July, 2007)

The Three 4 Tens, Down The Way (Rainbow Quartz). Psychedelic popsters from Philadelphia who have taken pointers from Syd-era Floyd and '60s garage rock. Dreamy slide on The Villas, and I Am The King boasts a deft bit of delicate riffage. Guitar Magazine, July '07

babysue.com 2007: Three 4 Tens - Down The Way (CD, Rainbow Quartz, Pop)---Soft and subtle pop with traces of mild psychedelia. Unlike some Rainbow Quartz artists who play purely upbeat catchy pop. the guys in Three 4 Tens write and record soft moody pop tunes that slowly make their way into your subconscious over time. What we find most puzzling about this band is that...despite the fact that their overall sound is very familiar...we have a very hard time coming up with possible influences and similar sounding artists. One thing is certain...we have heard very few pop bands in the past few years who can effectively combine drone and soft pop like these guys do. Down The Way is repetitive and hypnotic and yet...the vocal melodies are actually strangely catchy and accessible. Listening to this is kinda like...tripping and listening to college radio music from the 1980s. A word of warning. In order to get the full effect of this disc you need to play it several times. Only then will the subtle nuances of the music begin to sink in. Cool moody creations include "Everyday," "I Get High," "All the Pretty Girls," and "Gold Medal Moment." (Rating: 5+ out of a possible 6)
PHILEBRITY.COM 2007-JOEY SWEENEY, REPORTING FROM THE WINDMILLS OF HIS MIND: Something funny occurred to me the other day: In this new Transplantadelphia we live in today (note to self: ride over to godaddy.com later today and think about purchasing transplantadelphia.com), there are so few old-school true-believers even left today. Why? Because band dudes get old, get jobs, stop playing in bands, get wives, get boring and then, almost invariably get gone. We can’t tell you how many ex-Philly punk rock legends we know who now live in geodesic domes in parts of the state we’ve never even heard of, much less been to. But something tells me that, when it all shakes out and Doug Wallen writes the Britpop-esque tome of Philly’s long legacy of musical ne’er-do-wells, The Three-4-Tens will come out as the Keith Richardses of Philadelphia. Over the last decade, there have been 438 Three-4-Tens shows (218 at the Firenze alone!), a bunch of records, even more parties and all of them have been mind-bendingly real mind-benders. And like their Psychedelphic bros The Asteroid 4, the ‘Tens are just getting better with time. This new jawn, Down The Way, is probably their best yet, copping an “Alone On The Moon” vibe while also evoking the crazy we love so much about these guys. The cake in the pants. The naked Jamie Mahon. The zen-nehru vibe of Joe Tagg. This is why we stay, people. It’s the cake in the pants. Listen, and get born all over again.
Elliott, On SXSW (March 18, 2007) "The audience was very much getting into the show as Jaime played a solo at the end of Pretty Girls ......and then he threw the guitar. Holy crap. The guitar flew 20 feet in the air.... the guitar barely grazed the club ceiling....the guitar arced toward the stage.... the guitar hit the steel guitar player in the head. Ya see, this was the first time I'd seen the T4Ts play. But the rest of band didn't react like this was an unusual occurance. The steel guitar player with blood dripping from his forehead looked a little pissed but leaned over to Joe and said "He just hit me in the head", Joe seemed to shrug and they proceeded to the next song which was possibly Every Day but I can't be too sure because I was busy moving from the front of the stage to the side (hopefully out of missile range)."
Faceadelphia - Philadelphia Street Style, Kate Bracaglia, 1/30/07:I've always been a fan of the Three 4 Tens psychedelphic sound, but unfortunately Saturday night's much buzzed-about show sold out before I could get it together (or get myself down to JBs) and evening plans defaulted to a bonfire in West Chester (no joke!)
2007: Congrats Three 4 Tens, this is, indeed, your gold medal moment. Down the Way has been selected as the album-of-the-month at San Jose Vision Company of San Antonio! Imagine all of the little old Mexican ladies who will be listening to your record as they get their eyes examined. Far Out!---http://www.sanjosevision.net/sanjosevisionweb_010.htm
Record Label: Rainbow Quartz
Type of Label: Indie