AMG Review of Ursa Major

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

When Third Eye Blind released Out of the Vein in 2003, they felt like post-grunge relics that refused to acknowledge their time had passed. Six years later, with Ursa Major in tow, they've surfaced just when late-'90s alt rock nostalgia is beginning to bubble. Tellingly, TEB shuck much of the heavy, oppressive sobriety of Out of the Vein replacing it with a touch of the fizzy, singsong hooks that made their debut a smash success. Without guitarist Kevin Cadogan, these hooks aren't as finely honed, but they're still present, still digging in right underneath the surface. Singer/songwriter Stephan Jenkins doesn't just rely on hooks, he retains no small element of the hard-edged social consciousness of Out of the Vein, signaling when it's time for things to get serious by toning down the hooks, turning down the volume, and letting the seriousness of the situation speak for itself.