THIRD CLASS MAKES OHIOAN POETIC POP MUSIC VIA ABSTRACT TRAVELOGUES, SMALL-TOWN ALIENATION, CHILDHOOD NOSTALGIA, AND TRUE LOVE, SINCE 1999.

THIRD CLASS WAS FORMED BY BROTHERS, LEE BOYLE, JACK BOYLE, AND PEPE PARISH, IN THE LATE 1990S, IN THE SMALL TOWN OF EAST PALESTINE, OHIO. THE BAND GAVE AWAY DEMOS AND PERFORMED IN FRIENDS' HOUSES BEFORE STARTING TO TOUR THE U.S., IN THE EARLY 2000S. FROM 2006 TO 2011, THE BAND RELEASED A SERIES OF ALT-ROCK WORKS (CHLOE'S EPITAPH IS CHLOE, THE RED WHEELBARROW, 12 AND 9 EP) WITH PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERTONES. THIRD CLASS TURNED TO R&B, CLASSIC ROCK, AND FOLK BALLADRY, FROM 2012 TO 2018 (HYMNS FROM SOME SMALL TOWN, VIRGINIA'S PLAYLIST, POEM IDEA), OFTEN INSPIRED BY TRAVEL EXPERIENCES. BY 2021, THIRD CLASS BEGAN TO EXPERIMENT WITH ARTFUL TAKES ON SPIRITUALITY (HAUNTED UNTIL THE VERY END, MY OLD GODS), WITH DARKER, MORE ORCHESTRAL APPROACHES TO POP MUSIC. USING UNUSUAL INSRUMENTATION, INCLUDING A TWO-STRING GUITAR AND AN ODDLY-TUNED BASS, THIRD CLASS IS KNOWN FOR ABSTRACT LYRICS, FUZZY BACKING RIFFS, SLOPPY RHYTHMS, AND LITERARY THEMES. LEE, KNOWN AS VERY OUTGOING, IS THE BAND'S OFTEN-SOLO CORE MEMBER, WRITING AND PRODUCING THE BULK OF THE MATERIAL. JACK, A MORE INTROSPECTIVE AND RESERVED PERSONALITY, OFTEN STRUCTURES, SCORES, AND REWRITES SONGS. PEPE, WHO POSSESSES A ZEN-LIKE QUALITY, STYLIZES THE BAND'S DIRECTION AND OVERALL SOUND. FRIENDS AND FAMILY SIT IN AS TOURING MEMBERS. THIRD CLASS RESIDES IN OHIO AND MASSACHUSETTS AND SUPPORTS THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT.