Kim Thayil, his Soundgarden bandmate and Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron and Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic have formed a new supergroup, 3rd Secret.
The band also features Bubba Dupree, guitarist for D.C. hardcore vets Void and Cameron side-project Hater, plus vocalists Jennifer Johnson and Jillian Raye, who also feature in Novoselic’s Giants in the Trees.
3rd Secret announced the band and surprise-released their self-titled debut album simultaneously on Monday night. It was recorded and mixed by legendary grunge producer Jack Endino, and it’s available to hear on streaming services now.
The record certainly delivers on the promise of its lineup, with sinewy, off-kilter riffs and the odd frenzied solo from Thayil. But there’s an altogether folkier acoustic thread running through the album, too, which nods to landmark grunge recordings such as Alice in Chains’ Jar of Flies and Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged.
It seems 3rd Secret have already made their live debut, with a secret show at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture, revealed in a photo shared by Cameron on Instagram.
Last year, Thayil and Cameron collaborated on The Pretty Reckless single Only Love Can Save Me Now, and the guitarist has frequently expressed a desire to work with his Soundgarden bandmates again following the death of Chris Cornell in 2017.
“I think it's very likely that Matt and Ben and I will play together,” Thayil said last month. “The three of us have an interest in doing new things. We certainly like working together.”
In the meantime, the new supergroup have launched a charmingly old-school website at 3rdsecret.com, where you can keep up to date with their future activities.
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