Artist bio

Nebraska-bred, L.A.-transplanted funk/rock/pop combo 311 burst on the scene in 1993 with the genre-bending album Music, and has continued to ply its trade through hard-hitting live shows and word-of-mouth popularity growth in the ensuing decade.

The group formed on a basically unique hybrid of rock guitars, reggae and funk rhythms, rapped lyrics and soaring vocal harmonies. Through Music and ganja-clouded followup Grassroots, the quintet perfected the sound, scoring minor underground hits with "Do You Right" and "Homebrew" but generally building a fanbase through relentless touring.

The big breakthrough came with a self-titled third album in 1995, as a slicker production courtesy of Ron Saint Germain smoothed out their sound ("All Mixed Up") but still allowed it to rock with precision ("Down"). The five musicians had also grown and become more musically proficient, leading to a branching out on 1997's Transistor, which found them running through genre experiments with less of an ear toward blending than in the past. The album failed to meet critical and commercial expectations, though the group's fanbase stayed strong, and eventually 311 would return to a refined version of its original sound for Soundsystem and From Chaos.

Though the conventional wisdom is that Faith No More, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Rage Against The Machine were the true progenitors of the rap-rock hybrid sound that exploded in the late '90s with hundreds of platinum-selling faceless bands, 311's take on a similar hybrid was unique, and the group's early body of work will always have its place in rock's pantheon, having helped bring the '90s some of its own dialects to speak within the larger language of rock music.

Albums by this artist

From Chaos (2001)

Soundsystem (1999)

Transistor (1997)

Grassroots (Recommended) (1996)

Concerts

October 27, 1999
The Metro, Chicago

311

From Chaos

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» TROY CARPENTER | CO-DIRECTOR

311 From Chaos Volcano, 2001 RiYL: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fishbone, Rage Against The Machine

What do you know -- 311 is still making records. The L.A. quintet continuesto mix pop-funk riffs with sung and rapped lyrics and a boisterous attitudein much the same amounts as found on the group's 1999 album Soundsystem.

But does anyone care anymore? Should anyone?

"The only thing that never gets old," sings frontman Nick Hexum on "Full Ride," "is honesty." Well, Nick, I'm not even sure that never gets old anymore, considering how your bluntly optimistic outlook and reliance on suburban slang has consistently depleted the originality of your lyric sthrough six albums, making those on From Chaos a limp batch indeed.

Peep these examples: "You don't want to disrespect me / if dealing with punks was school, I'd have a Harvard degree" ("From Chaos"), "311, you wanna get next to them / the name is Nick H-E-X-U-M" ("Sick Tight"). Sure, these might work if it was the mid-'80s and you were a hard rapper with a shred of street cred or a deep powerful voice (I repeat, "might"). But Hexum is in actuality a white dude from Southern California who sounds age smore comfortable singing a back porch crooner like "Champagne" than the harder raps he favors.

It's a shame, too, because the group is as musically formidable as ever, grafting complex guitar riffs over the "sick tight" rhythm section of bassist P-Nut and drummer Chad Sexton. Timothy J. Mahoney is no Tom Morello, but he's an undeniably inventive guitarist who creates pop songs out of a series of catchy hard guitar licks, in just the right amounts of repetition.

But even co-micster S.A. Martinez can't offset Hexum's dorkiness, especially when he drops duds like "Wonder Woman got rid of wonder man / that man's not part of her wonder plan" on first single "You Wouldn't Believe." Come on, guys. I know out of 12 songs' worth of lyrics, they're not all going to be subtle or intelligent, but too often on From Chaos, a fun or interesting groove becomes painful to listen to solely because of the vocals. I find myself yearning for the instrumental passages, and almost wishing Mahoney, P-Nut and Sexton would make a fully instrumental album.

The group has made some great music over the years, and I will still look forward to seeing them in concert, but 311's studio work has lost a great deal of its once-original luster.

TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.