Photo: Adam Wallcavage You can find The Three 4 Tens' influences all over Jamie Mahon's
house. The Northern Liberties home that doubles as the psychedelic
pop band's practice space has posters of Jim Morrison in the living
room and Simon LeBon in the basement, plastic Sesame Street numbers
here and there, and a cat named Buki (short for Bukowski) who
likes to drink beer. Throw Back Move With the Three 4 Tens, the band's debut EP for Lounge Records, is a musical kaleidoscope
by four kids weaned on their parents records (bassist Mahon is
even named after Jim Morrison) who came of age skateboarding on
Frankford playgrounds to '80s synth-pop hits. There are backwards
loops borrowed from Jimi Hendrix's Are You Experienced, "Hello, I Love You" vocals and secrets from Pink Floyd's saucerful
- lyrics like "When you see the trees in threes then you'll know
me and where I'll be." A single from Norwegian garage rock label Dull City is also in
the works. "We're a little bit of everyone's favorite band," says
guitarist/keyboardist Brian McNamara, who taught himself to play
by listening to Keith Richards, while Mahon's favorites include
Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd and Duran Duran predecessors Japan.
"The only thing rooting us in the '60s thing is the obvious: the
haircuts and the way we dress," says Mahon, who sports an overgrown
Beatle haircut (as does frontman/guitarist Joe Tagg). "I think
at certain points, we almost have a new wave flavor." Drummer Jon Kois is the heavy metal fan in the band. He swears
he feels a spiritual bond with Ozzy Osbourne, with whom he shares
a given name. The Three 4 Tens - named for the going rate of hits
of acid - formed in the spring of '96 after Kois moved here from
Pittsburgh looking for a band to play with, and Mahon's old band,
prog-rockers Invid, dissolved. The Three 4 Tens' catchy hooks, agile playing and snazzy fashion
sense caught on with Philadelphia scenesters, some of whom thought
it was uncool the band got too many accolades too soon. "There's definitely been a backlash from people in the cool scene
who do not like us because of that," admits Mahon. Those same
folks falsely liken them to local suit rockers The Interpreters.
"They're like this mod revival Buzzcocks kind of thing and we're
doing total psychedelic freakout stuff with different influences,"
he says. Within the close-knit Philly music scene the band gravitated toward
The Asteroid #4, whose bassist Gregg Weiss offered to release
Throw Back Move on his Lounge Records label after a friend of his saw the band
play a Pink Floyd tribute night. "Between us and The Asteroid #4, there's a bit of a Pink Floyd
link," says Mahon. "We get more of Piper at the Gates of Dawn, a little bit of Saucerful of Secrets, and they're more like Meddle and Obscured By Clouds." They also scored a second stage slot opening for The Who at the
E-Centre in August, and although they didn't get to meet any of
their heroes, they actually got to play in front of people who
weren't just waiting in line for beer. One person even asked for
the set list. Kevin Kinney, lead singer of the far more boring
billmates Drivin' and Cryin', gave them a backhanded compliment:
"Your band is almost as good as mine." They also got a tape into
the hands of Pete Townshend's guitar tech. "We asked for two limos and some caviar and we got a bucket of
ice," jokes Kois. "At least we got a trashcan to hide our [beer] in," adds McNamara.
- Sara Sherr
Three 4 Tens