Jason Gleason was my favourite Further Seems Forever vocalist. Yep, that’s right – even better than Chris Carabba. Some of my fave FSF songs were penned during this period, and so when Equal Vision announced details of Jason’s newest project, my ears were pinned back and ready to hear new material. Thankfully, ActionReaction‘s debut album, ‘3 Is The Magic Number’, is not a disappointment.
While different to his Further Seems Forever-era, Jason’s distinctive voice is again the engine of the band. ActionReaction are clearly influenced by the major rock bands of the 70s with nods towards the likes of The Who and Pink Floyd, yet there’s enough of a 21st century edge here to stop some of the songs toddling off into obscurity. ‘Contagious’, a great song I may add, often threatens to disappear off in a guitar-led solo, yet Gleason’s vocals always manage to pull in the reigns. ‘Can You Hear The Sun?’ has a cracking chorus, while ‘At the Moon’ is another solid effort.
ActionReaction aren’t your typical verse/chorus/verse band, which is why no sane reviewer can make genuine comparisons to FSF. So anyone expecting a follow-up will be sorely disappointed. Having said that, AR’s off-kilter pop-rock songs do the trick consistently – ‘With My Voice’ is a real highlight, even if the song takes almost 90 seconds to actually make much of an impact. Whether I will still be listening to ActionReaction a few years down the line, as I do FSF w/Gleason, remains to be seen. But in the short term at least I know full well I’ll be enjoying plenty more spins of ‘3 is the magic number’.