third wheel: what some say

Not only are Jeremy Babcock and Shawn Schlag (Third Wheel's front men and composers) the nicest guys you want to hoist Guiness with, but their blend of sincerity, humor and playfulness onstage is undeniably infectuous! "Stepping Up and Spinning" is a dazzling and impressive debut! Organic, honest, thought-provoking, and rich harmonies that will make hairs on your arm stand up. BUY THIS CD!!! But don't stop there...make haste and experience the songs of "Stepping Up and Spinning" live!

Chicago's third wheel was founded by two life-long friends, Jeremy Babcock and Shawn Schlag, who've been performing under that moniker for over a decade. Their sound is uptempo heartland folk-rock filled with close harmonies: think Wilco's A.M. covered by Simon and Garfunkel as produced by the Innocence Mission's Don Peris...

These songs will slip into your heart while you're not thinking and then find their way into your head. Here, they will inspire thought and provoke the honesty they convey if you're lucky, but mostly if you're open. Jeremy's lyrics are littered with sorrow but always tinged with a bit of hope. The harmonies that Jeremy and Shawn share with us on these songs will jump out at you, but they are backed here by a few more layers of pleasure...the adept drumming of Dan Hoffman and the attentive bass of Mr. Michael Doty work to pump these songs up at least a notch or two above what one might expect from a singer-songwriter these days. The addition of some guitar work by Michael Schenkelberg and violin from Gerry Field serve to round out the instrumentation here and make this a very realized first album from a band that is only getting better. One of the better first efforts from such a straightforward singer-songwriter outfit I have heard in a while. I recommend it highly.

This is a cd of sweet melancholy sadness. This makes me think of rainy Sundays. In a good way. Easy to Go, Even the Radio, Falling Away II--these songs are rainy Sunday songs--those days where you get to feeling all philosphical and start asking yourself questions about the meaning of life and your place in the universe. Perhaps you stay under the covers for too long...listening to this. And then...finally...the covers are off....then you make the big leap out of bed. Because the guys who put this together obviously got out of bed so you have to too. Makes me wish I could write songs.