The Third Wheel Theory on Rush and 5 Songs That Don’t Suck
Rush has three drummers in its history and exactly one constant: two kids from Ontario who met at thirteen and never stopped making music together. That’s the argument this week, and it’s harder to dismiss than you might think.
The Third Wheel Theory came out of a hot takes episode over at Rock-n-Roll Autopsy, where Rico dropped a take about Neil Peart that got the wheels turning. The short version: Neil was never the center of gravity in Rush. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson were. They founded the band, wrote every note of music across nineteen studio albums, were the public face for fifty years, and when Neil died, they grieved and then kept playing together. Because that’s what they’ve always done.
None of this diminishes what Neil Peart was. The man was the greatest rock drummer of his generation, and his lyrics shaped the interior lives of more nerdy teenagers than any philosopher. He wrote seven books. He treated correspondence as craft. He rode his motorcycle alone between shows and sprinted off stage before the lights came up, because that’s who he was. “Limelight” wasn’t philosophy; it was autobiography.
But the music itself? Lee and Lifeson. Every time signature, every bass line, every guitar riff that made Rush the most technically ridiculous rock band of their era. Neil’s job was the words, which he got almost by accident when Geddy and Alex handed him the gig because “he reads a lot of books.” Most inspired delegation in rock history.
The Fifty Something Tour is rolling now, with Anika Nilles behind the kit. It’s Rush for the third time. The axle hasn’t changed.
The Songs
“The Greater Good” — Velveteen Queen brings the kind of raw, gritty rock that almost nobody is making right now. Bluesy swing, falsetto harmonies, piano tucked into the right spots, and a vocal that sounds like it lived somewhere rough before it ended up here. Think early Guns N’ Roses energy with a distinct identity of its own.
“Never Gonna Die” — Houndmouth is a folk-roots track with a drum sound and rhythm that’s almost purposely broken, sparse in a way that somehow holds everything together. There’s a moment where frontman Matt Myers laughs mid-lyric, and it stays in the recording. Good call leaving it there. That’s the whole song in one moment.
“Gretchen” — Saint Clair earns the Radiohead comparison the second the vocals come in. The delivery drags just behind the tempo, not sloppy, just unhurried, and then opens up into something with real power in the upper register at the end. Only their second release. Get in early.
“Goldmine” — The Creem is a collaboration between members of Ratatat and Islands, and it sounds like late Beatles filtered through something slightly carnival-adjacent. Swelling harmonies, a great bridge, and a guitar tone that’s exactly right for what the song needs. More of this, please.
“Aftertaste” — The Bites are back after three-plus years, and they haven’t lost a step. Hooky chorus, a proper guitar solo, and the kind of energy that makes you remember why rock and roll was worth caring about in the first place. New album coming. Already impatient.
