The Third Mind: Live Mind

Dave Alvin, one of the three guitarists in the Third Mind and their best known member, found himself in the unusual position of taking to his Facebook page to defend his work with the group. Some of his veteran fans, it seems, would prefer that he eschew the group’s neo-psychedelic outings, which update the once ubiquitous proto jamband sound of the late ‘60s, and stick with the rootsy/earthy “American Music”—a hybrid of rockabilly, raw R&B/blues and punk—he performed with the Blasters, primarily in the early ‘80s. Alvin explained that he’s still the same guy and that this music is as much a part of his makeup as the Blasters, that the extended solos and experimentalism of the Third Mind is not something he just discovered. The naysayers ought to listen harder because the Third Mind—which also features vocalist/acoustic guitarist Jesse Sykes, Camper Van Beethoven bassist Victor Krummenacher, guitarist Mark Karan (a veteran of several Grateful Dead spinoffs) and Richard Thompson’s go-to drummer Michael Jerome—is one mind-blowing trip. Live Mind, their third release, is where it all coalesces for real. While their two studio collections, from 2020 and ‘23, served well to introduce the band’s rearrangements of songs associated with the likes of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Electric Flag, Alice Coltrane and Fred Neil, Live Mind takes some of that same material, including updates on the Grateful Dead’s version of Bonnie Dobson’s “Morning Dew” and the Great!! Society!!’s reimagination of the Jaynetts’ “Sally Go ‘Round the Roses” and blasts them into outer space. The program-ending condensation of “Dark Star” into five minutes of impromptu sonic bliss may serve to rearrange one’s notions of what that jam-to-end all-jams is all about. Meanwhile, “Doralee,” an original by Sykes, goes a long way toward expanding the Third Mind concept beyond remakes of decades-old tunes— it’d be a thrill to hear an entire release of new music by these sonic adventurers. Maybe next time.

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