Stephan Jenkins characterizes Screamer as an album where Third Eye Blind "adopted an open-door policy -– come in, be musical, and follow the song where it takes us." The collaborative nature on TEB's sixth album is apparent from the start, when Alexis Krauss of Sleigh Bells sings on the opening track. Krauss is there for a spell, but Jenkins called Billy Corgan the album's "musical consigliere," a phrase that may suggest shades of classic Smashing Pumpkins instead of the modernist pop pastiche that Screamer offers. Filled with glassy surfaces, digital juxtapositions, and crisp corners, Screamer is defiantly contemporary, relying on references to passing fads and a pan-genre electronic-fied rock that could conceivably slide onto a variety of playlists. Sometimes, Third Eye Blind pushes this mashup to the limits, as on "2X Tigers," which bounces to a deep bass beat and sees Jenkins' voice run through several layers of computerized distortion. Even with all this electronic clamor, Jenkins seems edgy and angry, spitting out profanities and striving for a connection in an era of isolation. All of these are admirable qualities, and the music sometimes coheres on an individual track level, but Screamer pushes buttons too hard. All of its strident hooks and big beat confrontations wind up being exhausting: it sounds like a band screaming at you to pay attention for the better part of a half-hour. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
