POP MUSIC REVIEW : Seven Mary Three Transcends Its Image

For a band that named itself after Erik Estrada’s code name in “CHiPS,” Seven Mary Three is a pretty grim bunch. In fact, the Orlando, Fla., quartet is making a fair bid to become rock’s voice of low self-esteem. On its debut album, “American Standard,” singer Jason Ross describes his remorse at not interceding in a murder, apologizes for being “so lame” and evaluates his social progress thus: “I have become cumbersome to this world . . . to my girl.”

“Cumbersome” is an ungainly title and image, but the song is a rising hit, and at the Whisky on Thursday, Seven Mary Three’s sonic wallop and intense presence helped the band transcend the web of guilt, dread and persecution that fences it in thematically and stylistically.

The band pulls together elements of grunge and Southern rock, alternating taut, tension-building verses with explosive choruses led by Ross’ flamethrower vocals. The Pearl Jam overtones are inescapable, but the fusillade of unison riffs on “Cumbersome” carried a classic-rock force.

The group brings it all off without a trace of affectation or contrivance, and in such songs as “Margaret,” about a romance between a 40-year-old man and a teenage girl, there’s a glimmer of eccentricity that could light the way out of their chosen cul-de-sac.