Their website offers more details: "The people we encounter on a daily basis are of greater importance than any song will ever be. Our purpose is to create music with excellence, as it should be with every band that follows after the Christ, but we desire to have our on stage lives be a direct reflection of who we are off stage and vice versa. More than performers, we are followers of Christ." Taking their name from the powerful verse, John 3:30, the band lists lead vocalist/guitarist Dominic Nuncio, drummer Jeremy Gordon, and bassist Kekoa Grover as members. More on that later.
I listened to two of their projects but will officially review the newest, "The Upside of Down," 10 tracks, mostly covers of fairly well known songs written by popular artists. 330 Plan covers them all quite adeptly, adding their own aggressive guitars and gritty vocals to Charlie Hall's "Salvation" and "Marvelous Light," a blistering guitar solo to Chris Tomlin's "Forever," a very solid take on Matt Redman's "Mission's Flame," and a thick wall of sound to Tim Hughes' "May the Words of My Mouth." But here's my question: why put out an all-covers album? Especially when you can write? Dominic Nuncio wrote six of the 8 tracks on their 2004 self-titled project, and they are inventive, rippin' and well thought out songs more than capable of standing on their own legs.
Anyway . . . . standout tracks include a very tender rendition of Shaun Groves' "Abba Father" and a show-stopping cover of "Overwhelmed," the instruments beautifully restrained and sensitive, the vocals quiet yet movingly powerful. Which leads me to a second question: one of the strengths of "The Upside of Down" is its vocal harmonies between Nuncio's earthy tones and the softer vocals of Rachel Doman and Holly Duncan, yet neither are listed as band members. It's not up to me who should be in their band, but if 330 Plan is interested in playing to their strengths, thus increasing their ministry's range, they might want to rethink their make-up. But 330 Plan is a strong viable band and "The Upside of Down" gives you every reason to believe they are a band to keep an eye on.
