Alter Egos

3-2-1 Activate!/Tub Ring - Alter Egos (2007) self-released

1. 3-2-1 Activate! - Eraser
2. 3-2-1 Activate! - Now It's Got a Hold of Me
3. Tub Ring - This Is The Sound
4. Tub Ring - Touch

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Here's a picture of 3-2-1 Activate!:


now here's a picture of Tub Ring:


Let me explain: Tub Ring fell apart in 2006. At the time the band was without a drummer, then their guitarist & bassist left, leaving the core duo Kevin Gibson & Rob Kleiner. They managed to replace the missing members, but used this high turnover to explore a different musical side.

3-2-1 Activate! (god what a horrendous name) is a band that explores the poppier, more conventional tastes of Kleiner & Gibson. The "same group of people being two different bands" is not anything new, but it's a concept that isn't very popular, mainly because it's confusing as all get out, regardless of how well you try to explain it.

Things do get pretty confusing however, because the band really didn't know what to do with their new persona. During all this regrouping & creating a new band, Tub Ring was writing and recording a new album, The Great Filter. Instead of using 3-2-1 as a vehicle for their poppier output, they just incorporated the more traditional song structures and catchy hooks into The Great Filter. The result are 3-2-1 songs that show up on the Tub Ring album. There's even an iTunes single by Tub Ring, that's actually a 3-2-1 song. Instead of clearly diving the two bands, they just mashed them together.

This split CDr, which was handed out at the CD release show for The Great Filter, only adds to the confusion. As a split, it clearly delineates between the two bands, but you'd never guess that from listening to it. "Eraser" conveys what 3-2-1 was going for. It's straightforward. Too much so, it's pretty bland, and verges on sounding contrived. "Now It's Got a Hold of Me" sounds like Tub Ring however, nothing very "pop song" about it. The Tub Ring songs are fantastic, they're infinitely more energetic and dynamic than anything on The Great Filter. The split is worth it for "Touch" alone (T.S. Elliot references never hurt either). As a whole, the split doesn't sound like two different bands. It sounds like Tub Ring for the most part.

I'm not forgetting any cover art, there isn't any. It simply comes in a paper sleeve. Fans were pretty upset with The Great Filter, since the 3-2-1 influence really detracted from what makes Tub Ring so great. This actually upset the band, and now they have something to prove, which they intend to do with their next album, which they just finished recording.