Sparta – Threes

A while ago there was this little band called At The Drive-In. I don’t know, maybe you’ve heard of them. I’ve heard that they were some sort of big deal, but personally, I never understood why. I could never get into them and really, I just don’t like them. When they broke up the underground scene was left with two bands instead of just the sole predecessor as the members split to form new bands. One of those bands were The Mars Volta, yet another band with massive hype around them; and yet another band I just couldn’t comprehend or get into. The remaining three members of At The Drive-In went on to formSparta, a band which most people considered inferior and were known simply as “the other band” by some. Since Sparta was supposed to be worst then Mars Volta or At The Drive-In, I really had no anticipation to hear this other band’s output. Thus, their first release,Porcelain passed me by without notice; but now they are back with their sophomore album, Threes, and once I actually sat down to listen to it, I realized that it wasn’t that bad.

Threes shows the world that they shouldn’t be simply known as “the other band from the ADTI breakup” but should be known as a band in their own right. A band with their own sound and feel; and the album gives the listener that feel as they display spurts of atmospheric prog-rock tunes flowing in and out of each other. The songs are daunting, teasing you, floating there as if a tangible object as you try to reach out and grab it but consistently fail to make contact. There is a underlying beauty, a hidden emotion and moving structure lingering between the airy vocals and woven melodies molded together with layered music and smooth production. The repeated melodies of Erase It Again or Red.Right.Return. (Straight Into Our Hands) mixed with Keeley Davis’ entrancing vocal delivery pulls the listener in, be it with the more aggressive rock attack of the latter or the smoother, more laid-back trance of the former.

Of course, any album that has the band attempting to re-invent themselves, to break out of a mold and reach new heights, normally finds itself lingered with its fair share of lows; and Threes is no different. At times, the four to five minute long prog-rock tracks become tiresome; and when they throw in stripped down acoustic tracks like Atlas you’re delivered to a new low which then takes a while to climb out of.Translations sees Davis reaching for a tune that is way out of reach while Crawl is just simply there as filler.

Considering I was not expecting anything from this album, Threes has stepped up to reach and surpass my expectations. There’s definitely some sparkling moments of success layered throughout this album that just can’t be ignored; sadly, those moments are sometimes bogged down by the little fumbles that happen all too often.