The intro to the four-chord masterpiece “Semi-Charmed Life,” written by lead singer/guitarist Stephen Jenkins of Third Eye Blind, sends a nostalgic longing through those who survived the ’90s and dabbled in alternative pop/rock fandom.

The song itself embodies the hopeless euphoria that courses through the entire album — Third Eye Blind promotes a visceral, passionate form of existence that can only be discovered by dropping out of school and learning to surf.

Or so Jenkins would have you believe (the guy graduated valedictorian of his Berkeley class). Much of the album is delivered through the eyes of a misfit lover who copes with the realities of rejection and inadequacy by the poetic delivery of his encompassing emotional lyrics (though how bad off can you be with such exes as Charlize Theron and Vanessa Carlton?).

But perhaps the most poetic moment of the album is the clinking beer bottles in “Burning Man” — alcohol is even better than power chords and surfing. Third Eye Blind’s self-titled release might be somewhat untrustworthy, but it is catchy as hell and encourages to break free of a mediocre life and get wasted.

— by Ryan Fosmark