Time for another fantastic Canadian punk band. This time it's THREES, a three piece band from Toronto. At the end of 2016 they released their only release to date, an album named We're Sorry We Missed You. In all honesty I can't find much else about THREES on the Internet other than that they seem to have played their last show and weren't especially active anyway. We're Sorry We Missed You is a fantastic album though so I decided it definitely needs some more coverage.
We're Sorry We Missed You begins with the song Rot Away. This song serves as much as an intro to the album as much as it does a standalone song. With some background noise of a children's playground, it features just vocals and some light percussion as a song about wanting to rot away is sung. A cheery way to get the album started. The album starts properly next with the song, Old Vans. Here we get the proper THREES sound. You've heard this sound before, it's that gruff, melodic punk rock that's oh so popular these days and THREES do it as well as anyone. Old Vans is a song about looking back at old photos of previous adventures and reminiscing about the good times. Dufferin Street Blues is one of the standout tracks on the album. It's a great big sing-a-long from the outset with the lines "Say Goodbye To The Only Constant In My Life" delivered in a way where it's impossible not to want to sing with THREES. The song, which is about struggling to deal with change, is only a short one but seems to pack a lot into it. With great lyrics and some big hooks, this is a perfect song to get a crowd good and rowdy. Up next is the song Out There which is a song about people who spend more time socialising on their mobile phones than actually speaking to people in real life. The song isn't quite as in-your-face, shout-a-long fun as the previous track but there's more of a serious, take a look at your life tone to it. I'm enjoying both styles of songs by THREES.
The fifth song, Last One Out, is another that goes with the more mid-tempo melodic sound. This track is one that deals with the subject of depression, in particular the struggles of getting up in the morning and not liking the person that you are. The opening lines are something many sufferers of depression could easily relate to - "This Time Of Morning, I Don't Know What I Hate More, My Alarm Clock Or Myself." The nest song, Scary Movies, took me a bit off guard on my first listen of it as We're Sorry We Missed You is a short acoustic track. Sometimes I find that this disrupts the flow of an album when an acoustic pops up at the midway point but here it works well and showcases a different side to THREES. Scary Movies is a song about hating somebody that won't leave you alone. Honest Son is a slower paced track that has plenty of hooks and sing-a-long moments. It's about coming to a crossroads in your life and realising that you might have to give up on your dreams and find yourself a job instead of constantly having to borrow money from your parents. I really liked the honesty in the lyrics and I feel like there is a whole lot of truth in the song. Wednesday, 25 Cents brings the album to its halfway point. THREES pick the pace up slightly on this shorter song that has plenty of punk rock attitude. It's about not getting stressed out about the troubles that occur in your life. The track finishes with the repetition of the line "I Don't Give A Shit About It" which I think could become a huge crowd sing-a-long moment.
Mother's Lament kicks off the second half of We're Sorry We Missed You in fine fashion. When I first heard it I was instantly reminded of Colorado's Elway, one of my favourite bands in the gruff pop punk genre. The song starts with some thoughtful and heartfelt lyrics that will hook you into the song immediately and have you singing along with every word. It's not a hard hitting song by any means but one that you'll love instantly. The tenth track is named L5-S1. This song is about holding in so much emotion that you can't relax. There is a raw, fuzzy sound on the recording of the song which adds a warmth to the track. I liked that the music is on a loop throughout the majority of the song with the vocals carrying the melody of the song. As it goes on, the guitars go their own way and set up a fantastic finale. Dirty Dishes is another short acoustic song. This is a bit of a love song that talks about wanting to finish a relationship because of the frustrations of little things that don't actually matter but realising how much you love the person. Remains is an interesting song that mostly features only the electric guitar before the full band comes into the song towards its finale. There is a feeling of loneliness when the guitar is on its own only accompanied by vocals. The song is about finding the strength and confidence to tell someone how you feel before it's too late.
Nowhere probably has my favourite intro of the whole album. The fast paced guitar at the beginning really adds a truck load of energy to the song immediately and I instantly want to see where the song is going to take me. The song is loud and fast and is one of the best tracks in this genre of punk rock I've heard in a long time. It's a brilliantly shoutable song about wanting to go somewhere in your life and not being content with where you currently are. It's a positive upbeat song that is inspiring. Wayside starts with some crashing guitars and some thumping drums before we slide into a more restrained (compared to Nowhere) sound. I'm reminded of the UK's own Bear Trade here with this mature and thoughtful style of punk. There are some fantastic harmonies on this song, perhaps the best on the album. I do love a good harmony. The penultimate song on We're Sorry We Missed You is named Mind Fuck. There isn't a whole lot to this song in all honesty. It's a short, simple song about having your head messed with. Mind Fuck has definitely fucked with my mind as it has now wedged itself into my brain. It's quite catchy. Finally we have the sixteenth song on the album, Fuck This World. Fuck This World is a song about finding a way to make sense of all the darkness that goes on in the world. The songs starts with some fantastic guitar chords that make me want to jump up and down before finishing with a fantastic chorus of "We're Sing Through The Night To Make Some Sense Of The Light." A wonderful way to finish off a great album.
Stream and download We're Sorry We Missed You here: https://threes.bandcamp.com/releases
This review was written by Colin Clark.
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