DOWNLOAD "BOOST" PRESS RELEASE HERE

Download promo photo/band info (PDF) here
Download promo photo (medium-res JPEG) here
Download one sheet (Word Doc) here
Download color logo (Adobe Illustrator file) here
Download color logo (EPS file) here

From Powerpopaholic:

Fans of jangle-pop will feel warm fuzzies with "Boost." Bassist Mike Tulis gathered the band together in 2004 and has produced a stellar effort this year. Lead singer Matt Rutledge has a distinct vocal cadence, similar to Bob Mould or Peter Holsapple. The album opens with the Pysch-rock "High" a song that has elements of Myracle Brah and bits of The Minus 5. The goofy humor in the lyrics of "Happy as Larry" along with rich keyboards and guitar rhythms is a real toe tapper here. The first half of the album has that mid 1980's Chapel Hill, NC rich pop sound - "What A Day" even references the Miami Vice TV show in the lyric. Then the tone shifts to a perfect Who meets Jan & Dean in "G.A.S." It's a perfect mid 70's era power rocker (more cowbell fellas). My favorite song here, "Come on Home" is a standout where the style and melodic hooks come together just right. It would be great to here more of this type of song. But instead, we venture into Van Halen meets Bob Mould of "Visigoths." Still a good song though and it takes a turn toward the DB's style of guitar playing. It gets really interesting with "Evelyn" a cool story song with a blistering guitar solo. The remaining songs mine this style and do a pretty good job with cool pop jangle throughout. "Pink Cheerleader" is another power pop song where the break allow more guitar virtuosity, and you gotta love the "Ooh, la, las" here. Fans of the above mentioned bands, Chris Stamey, Let's Active, Mitch Easter will love this. So give it a listen.

From Not Lame Recordings:

The Third Men remind me of an more upbeat, sprightly Vulgar Boatmen for those who remember that band. Must be the sounds of classic Jayhawks that I keep bumping into here all over “Boost”– a very, very good thing! Very Highly Recommended!

A review from Absolute Powerpop:

The Third Men-Boost. This Omaha band's debut will be a godsend to those who lover older-school power pop in the vein of The Toms, The Only Ones, The Records, and The Grip Weeds. Opener "High" is a classic example of this sound, and the fake crowd noise gives it a special touch. "What a Day (to Call it a Day)" could have come off a Nuggets collection, and "Pen and Paper" evokes psychedelic-era Byrds. The Turtles-ish "Come on Home" is the personal favorite here. There's certainly nothing third-rate about The Third Men.

Another CD review, this time from The Reader:

After what seemed to be a decade of waiting, The Third Men release its debut album, Boost, on SPEED! Nebraska Records this week. It’s a 14-song adventure through straightforward rock ‘n’ roll, leaning heavily on catchy pop music. Think of the Beach Boys and R.E.M.’s love child.

While the songs are guitar-driven, a solid rhythm section and floating keyboard gives Boost sonic appeal. Matt Rutledge and Patrick White’s shared lead vocals are my favorite aspect of the album. The melodies and harmonies, and intelligent, humorous lyrics, will keep you singing well after listening. Standout tracks include “Hang on the Five” and the acoustic closer, “She’s a Wave”.

The Third Men release Boost Thursday, Nov. 29 with the Black Squirrels and Adam Hawkins at The Waiting Room Lounge, 6212 Maple St. The 9 p.m. show costs $7. Visit onepercentproductions.com.
— Brendan Walsh

FIrst review of the new CD, from Tim McMahan's Lazy-I blog:

-- The Third Men will be celebrating the release of their debut full-length, Boost, tomorrow night at The Waiting Room with The Black Squirrels and Adam Hawkins. As I said in this week's issue of The Reader: You could say The Third Men were born out of the ashes of Omaha rock band The Sons of…, after all, both acts include vocalist/guitarist Matt Rutledge and bassist Mike Tulis (and on recordings, drummer Mike Loftus). But it would be more appropriate to say The Third Men were born out of the ashes of The Raspberries, Wings, Cheap Trick, The Animals, The Beatles, Big Star, Graham Parker and Strawberry Alarm Clock, as well as dozens of obscure '70s-era pop-rock bands that only these vinyl junkies would know. That said, the band's new album, Boost, which also features frontman Patrick White and keyboardist Dana Rouch (new drummer Matt Bowen isn't on the recording), is no retro project. It puts a modern spin on a style of rock last heard blaring from that stereo in the garage where your dad worked on his old Lincoln.
It's one of the most balanced CDs I've heard this year. Remember the old days when you bought a record fresh from the record store shelves, took it home and then were pleasantly surprised at how well the first three songs just fell into place one after another? You get that same feeling with the opening triumvirate of "High" "Happy as Larry" and "What a Day (to Call it a Day)" on Boost. The album is one pop gem after another, with no one song reaching the 4-minute mark. The production -- recorded by frontman Pat White and mastered by Doug Van Sloun -- is pristine. This CD is a long time coming, and I'm happy it made it out in '07.

Jeremy Schnitker, the Reader:

There must be something about being in a music store — surrounded by all the glittering, new, pristine instruments, just beckoning you to buy and play them — that makes you change your mind about being in a band. As current Third Men members Mike Tulis and Matt Rutledge were perusing Lidgett Music in Council Bluffs in early 2004, it occurred to both that maybe they didn’t want to stop playing together. Their previous band, The Sons of …, had disbanded a few months before with the departure of frontman Kelly Maxwell.
“I actually told Mike I was quitting for good after The Sons of …,” Rutledge said, as we huddled around a table in a dark corner of O’Leaver’s.
“Then we went down to Lidgett’s that day,” Tulis interjects, with the table erupting in laughter, “and he asked me what I was doing musically and I said I had some offers and stuff, but I hadn’t decided anything yet. I was like f##k it — let’s start something.”
Then Rutledge bought another guitar, and The Third Men soon came to be.
With The Sons Of…, Tulis, Rutledge and drummer Mike Loftus had already formed a tight musical bond, and with friend and Omaha transplant Patrick White sitting around bandless, it seemed to make sense to get together. So a group of musicians — some who’d come close to hanging up their instruments for good — decided to give it one more go. In the process they created one of the most fun bands in town: an homage to power pop with a penchant for dead-on Wings covers.
The reason they were about to call it quits with music is because they’re no longer the spring chickens they once were. Each is a veteran of the rock field, way past the days of endless touring and recording in hopes of getting a record deal. These guys (with newly added keyboardist gal Dana Rouch) have musical resumés with too many past projects to list. White was in a handful of successful Iowa City bands; it’d take Tulis and Rutledge two tallboys to tell you all the bands they’ve been in. If you’re someone who has regularly attended rock shows in the metro throughout the last five years, you’ve seen one of their incarnations. But despite their age, they were each able to find inspiration to create new and interesting music, even if it is at a more leisurely pace.
“Some guys have poker night, we have band night,” White said, describing the band’s practicing habits. “We get together, drink beer and play rock songs. We’ve all been in touring bands, we’ve all slept on floors in San Francisco and New York and driven in a van for 15 hours at a time, we’ve all been there and done that. I could give you some long-winded answer as to why I still play, but the reality is I just love what I do. I loved my touring experiences, but I don’t think my liver could handle it anymore.”
What they haven’t managed to lose in their relative old age (which, by rock standards, is only about 32) is a sense of joviality. That comes through with the music they play. As adolescents during the ’70s AM radio days (although Rutledge claims he never listened to the radio when he was young), it’s impossible for them to deny the influence of power-pop acts like Badfinger and Cheap Trick. Throw in some Bowie and The Kinks and you can see exactly where this band is coming from. But this music isn’t all lollipops and summer kisses. There’s muscle and there’s angst, something White points out is really at the core of much great contemporary power-pop songwriting.
“The thing about power pop is it’s like The Beatles with balls,” White said. “It’s not that it has to be ‘feel good.’ The thing about power pop is that it can have the most [angst-ridden] lyrics and put it to a power pop melody and people can be sort of smiling as you take their throats out.”
Don’t misconstrue them as emo, though. In fact, they’re one of the few laid-back, unpretentious bands with whom you can sit at the bar, have a good time getting smashed and perhaps sing along with some classic covers. Pub rock is a good description, and it isn’t one the band runs away from. They’re quite content with their place in the town’s musical spectrum, even if it isn’t at the forefront of creativity.
“We’re certainly not reinventing the wheel,” White said. “What we’re doing is taking all our influences and coalescing them into this simple sound that we like.”

The Third Men play with the Pendrakes at the 49’r (49th and Dodge) Saturday, Jan. 21, 9:30 p.m. Admission is $5 at the door. Call 554.5841 for more info.
18 Jan 2006

Omaha World-Herald 01.05.06

Marq Manner, Omaha City Weekly:

Live review: The Third Men/The Diplomats of Solid Sound –– November 22, 2005

SHOW OF THE YEAR: It used to be that I would write
once a month about what was surely the show of the
year, only to change it the next month when I had an
exhilarating experience at another show. It's been
many months since I have said anything like that.
This last Saturday night at the 49'r brought that
drought to an end. It was a unique show in that the
two bands, The Diplomats and the The Third Men, have
such different styles and usually it is normal to pair
up similar bands. The bands are alike in that both
have amazing and experienced musicians in their
lineups. The Diplomats from Iowa City were up first
(probably because they had a full on Hammond organ in
the small bar) and they immediately laid down a funk
groove that hasn't been heard around these parts in a
long time. Lanky guitar licks, bass like saxophone
jabs, solid jazz and funk drumming, and the sweet
sound of that organ created a musical air of Memphis
soul not unlike much of the lost music being released
on labels such as Stones Throw. It was one of the
hippest sets played in town this year, and there
wasn't a scarf or floppy haircut to be seen. The
crowd (and bartenders) begged for song after song when
their designated set time was over, and the band
obliged. Next up was Omaha's own The Third Men
playing their fantastic brand of power-pop with
crunchy and precise guitar hooks, solid drumming, and
when the three vocalists joined forces on the choruses
it filled up that room like I have never heard before.
Finally an end of the year contender for the best
show. Let's hope I can change my mind in December.

From Tim McMahan's Lazy-I blog:
Live Review: The Third Men / Ladyfinger – Sept 10,
2005 –
It was a night of light and darkness at O'Leaver's.
Light in the form of The Third Men, who, by the way,
now include a woman on keyboards (she doesn't seem to
mind the band's moniker -- hey, it was there before
she joined, right?). By 10:30 or so O'Leaver's was
already elbow-to-elbow packed and not with people
watching the Ohio-Pitt game on the plasma (which
guitarist/vocalist Matt Rutledge turned off with 10
seconds left in regulation and Pitt driving -- good
thing I wasn't paying attention). I'm not entirely
sure the crowd was there to see 3rd Men either, but
they were there nonetheless and got what they deserved
-- a scorching set of tightly wound pop rock from a
group of laid-back veterans too cool to care if you
don't like their sunshine-vibe (One guy next to me
kept saying "Come on, where's Ladyfinger?" before he
disappeared -- his loss). I liken them to an groovy
combination of Matthew Sweet pop, Replacements bar and
dB's cool with a little bit of The Feelies
irascibility thrown in for good measure. These are
songs with top-down hooks and lots of grins. And if
their own pop ditties weren't enough, the band threw
in two covers -- Mott the Hoople's "All the Young
Dudes" and McCartney/Wings' "Jet" -- that's right,
"Jet" -- with bassist Mike Tulis barking out the dog's
name like a Midwestern Jerry Lewis. Gold.
Then came the darkness in the form of Ladyfinger. Has
there been another band in the Omaha scene that bears
their gutter-groove mark of the devil? The answer is
yes. That band was Ritual Device -- one of the city's
Golden Age icons, the band that often gets left out of
the who-influence-Creek discussions though they, along
with Mousetrap, undoubtedly laid the foundation (or at
least provided the bad influence) for the label's
heavier acts (Beep Beep comes to mind). As I've said
in this here blog a few times before, Ladyfinger is
Ritual Device's second coming, although it's a
thoroughly different revelation. Ladyfinger is faster,
and in some respects, harder than RD ever was. But in
spite of their fleetness, they have RD's unmistakable
knack for finding the head-bobbing groove in the
rhythm section, bass and chop guitar, all blended into
a very dark brew. The other huge diff -- Ritual Device
had a frontman in Tim Moss that was not only a stage
ham, but a true factor in that band's overall sound.
Amidst the chaos there was always Moss's throaty
voice, mumbling, growling or yelling (not screaming)
twisted, obscene lyrics about nightmare sex visions
and John Wayne Gacy child molesters. When I think of
Ritual Device, I can hear Moss' voice like the memory
of a bad dream. Not so with Ladyfinger's vocals,
shared by two frontmen. Blame the mix, blame the sheer
volume of the band, but I could not hear Ethan's or
Chris' vocals all night, and when I did, they were
mere wisps before a hurricane. Those guys need to lean
right in there and spit it out, over the band, over
the crowd. Else they become another edgy instrumental
band, of which there are too many already. They have
the vocal chops -- by god they both can sing better
than Moss (who got by on intensity, not range). Their
voices -- and whatever ideas they convey -- must be
heard if this band is going to break through to our
nightmares.

Live Review: Bettie Serveert; Column 13 -- Inside the
INXS Auditions – Feb. 17, 2005
I have neither the time (nor space) to go into details
about last night's Bettie Serveert show. Instead of
bugging out early, I stayed until the bitter end -- a
testimony to the rock, I guess. Opener The Third Men
-- i.e., The Sons Of... v. 2.0 -- was a complete
surprise. The band reinvented their sound from their
old late-'80s indie garage approach that coveted bands
like The Replacements and Husker Du to a new, more
poppy garage approach that reminded me of bands like
Roxy Music, Matthew Sweet, The dBs and Alex Chilton.
They're the kind of upbeat, funloving summertime band
that you'd hire to play at a party where there's lots
of balloons floating around the stage; the sort of
band that plays in the background during the club
scenes in early Jonathan Demme films. For just their
second gig, they were very tight, and it was fun to
see bassist Mike Tulis adding do-waps and "ew's" to
songs including a Bowie cover. I can't wait to see
these guys play at O'Leaver's or The Niner.
This was the first time I saw Little Brazil's line-up
with Oliver Morgan (ex-The Silent Type, ex-Ravine) on
drums and Greg Edds on guitar. Their music is the
same, but tighter, louder, more bombastic than with
the old lineup, which is understandable considering
the amount of touring they've done over the past year
or so. They rolled out a couple new songs that are in
the same vein as the stuff on just-released You and Me
(Mt. Fuji), complete with those insidious hooks that
sneak up on you when you least expect them. The band's
secret weapon continues to be Landon Hedges' almost
adolescent-sounding voice, that unsuspectingly swoops
upwards at the damnedest moments, cutting through the
grind of indie rock riffs.
Finally, Bettie Serveert, who performed a remarkable
90-minute set that included big helpings of songs from
just about every album. I recognized at least four or
five from Palomine (the only Bettie CD that I own
other than the new one) including their "hits" "Kid's
Alright" and "Tom Boy." I think they surprised anyone
who expected the lighter, poppier approach heard on
Attagirl, instead unrolling a mammoth cloud of guitar
noise centered around the axe-wielding histrionics of
Peter Visser, looking like a Dutch version of Thom
from Queer Eye. The most frequently heard comment:
"That lead singer looks awesome for someone who's 42."
Very hot indeed.
Some statistics: It looked like about 150 were there.
The sound mix was spectacular, maybe because of the
huge board used last night. I would go into more
detail, but I'm late for work and this is running way
long, especially with Column 13, below, a recap of
last week's INXS auditions provided by a source who
was inside all the action. Does Matt Whipkey really
have to worry about his "cred" after this experience?
I don't think so. If he can get to L.A. for the next
round and get copies of his Anonymous American CD in
the hands of some industry hacks, he's accomplished a
lot. I doubt anyone from around here really has a
chance of winning the damn competition anyway, so why
not take advantage of the CBS/Mark Burnett
organization to get your music out there?