THREE PIECE COMBO
The Starry Plough (Berkeley)
June 30, 2007

Drums front and center: That’s the way Three Piece Combo rolls. The bass and guitar provide the rhythmic background for the centerpiece of the band’s alluring sound. Other audience members at their June 30th show at the Starry Plough also took note of the novel stage setting:

Dude one: “Hey, drums right up front. I’ve never seen that before.”
Dude two: “Yeah.”

Ok, one audience member and I took note. But that wasn’t the only thing unique about the all-instrumental drums-bass-guitar trio. In the opening song, Matt Lebofsky played his guitar with a pencil in place of a pick, thudding the strings as if he were holding a drumstick. Three Piece Combo’s sound is one part melodic and catchy riffs, one part funky bass lines, and some jarring tempos thrown in for good measure.

The band’s music is much harder than most of the indie rock music that is out there right now, which is a welcome change. Throughout their set, Alex de Soria delivered bass lines of death. Sometimes accenting the expressive thundering drums of John Curtis or, at other times, complimenting Matt’s melodic guitar riffs. It’s exciting to watch their intensity grow and change throughout each song even if, toward the end of their set, they had started to loose the audience a bit.

By and far the most engaging part of the show was watching the man who was front and center. John Curtis is definitely part of a phenomenon I’ve noticed more and more with every show I attend – the revival of the drummer – and I love it.

[nicole leigh]

[STREAM] Three Piece Combo: Various Tracks