Song of the Day: “Reap What You Sow” by The Third Mind
The Third Mind’s latest EP, Spellbinder, feels less like a studio session and more like a high-stakes seance held in a room full of vintage tube amps. For a supergroup that began as an experiment in spontaneous “no-rehearsal” psychedelic folk-rock, the band—led by Dave Alvin (The Blasters) and Victor Krummenacher (Camper Van Beethoven, Cracker)—seems to have finally stopped drifting through the astral plane long enough to build a residency there. While their earlier work felt like a daring tightrope walk over 1960s blues-rock, Spellbinder! is evidence that the band has realized they’ve actually grown wings and no longer need the rope.
The evolution here is subtle but vital. On their self-titled debut and the subsequent The Third Mind 2, the band was largely introducing themselves to one another’s shadows. Now, the interplay is telepathic. Jesse Sykes’ vocals don’t just sit on top of the mix; they haunt it, acting as the eerie connective tissue between Alvin’s scorched-earth guitar solos and the rhythm section’s steady, hypnotic pulse. They’ve moved past the jammy “tribute project” phase and into a space where they are effectively terraforming the landscape of American roots music into something much weirder and more expansive.
While the EP is a cohesive trip, “Reap What You Sow” (written by blues legend Michael Bloomfield) stands out as the definitive highlight. In a collection of songs that often meander beautifully, this downtempo blues track finds the perfect middle ground between the dreaminess of midday drunken reverie and the intensity of a freight train. The song manages to feel both incredibly heavy and impossibly light, like a floating balloon that would drop a cinder block in popped. Unlike some of their more sprawling jams that can occasionally feel like they’re checking their watches, “Reap What You Sow” possesses a focused, simmering menace. Alvin’s guitar work here is particularly biting—it’s the sound of a man who has heard every blues lick in history and decided to use them all at once just to see which one burns the hottest.
The Song
Spotify:
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/song/reap-what-you-sow/1863426771
The EP
Spotify:
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/spellbinder/1863426766
The Band
Dave Alvin - Guitar, Vocals
David Immerglück - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
Mark Karan - Guitar
Michael Jerome - Drums, Percussion
Victor Krummenacher - Bass
Jesse Sykes - Guitar, Vocals
Be sure to check out the Audio Toxicity 2026 Bad Music Detox Protocol (AKA a playlist of songs covered so far…)