Search - Black Eyes :: Black Eyes

Woah.

Stephen Atkins | St. Petersburg, FL | 10/28/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I saw these guys live when they played with Q and not U and they left me both blown away and perplexed. Their music is the kind of unique, experimental hardcore (if you can even label it as that) that belongs on a great label like Dischord. Their set was as engaging musically as it was visually. Seeing the somewhat spastic guitarist hack away at his axe creating ferocious yet brilliant waves of distortion. That is, of course when he was playing guitar. It seemed like all the members played at least three instruments and were continual switching out between (and during!) songs. Two drummers, saxaphone, something that looks like a 5 yr old musical toy, and occasionally a pot or pan on the snare. These are just a few of the instruments used to create the wonderful, unclassifiable sonic experience that is Black Eyes. The only downfall is with so many different elements in play and so much axperimentation going on, occasionally the experiments fail. HOWEVER, this is an excellent album and should be purchased by anybody who is a fan of dischord-style hardcore...scratch that. This album should be purchased by anyone who is a fan of things that are cool in a weird way."

Junkmedia.org Review - Tribal-punk?

junkmedia | Los Angeles, CA | 06/12/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Black Eyes are an innovative act that imposes scatter-shot music onto organized patterns, creating a tumbling orgy of tribal-punk. There's a dark room hidden somewhere within the confines of the U.S. capitol filled with sweat and bodies writhing in tumultuous patterns to blissed-out rhythms. Dual bass lines curl around each other, filling the listener's every orifice. The vocals range from psychotic screams to rational low-end delivery. This might be what a Black Eyes rehearsal is like, or at least those are the images the act's full-length debut evokes. The band, comprised of ex-members of Trooper, the No-Go's and the Rapture, supposedly plays in a symmetrical configuration onstage -- drummers on the flanks, bass players in front and back and a guitar player in the center. Their music focuses on Crash Worship-style cacophonous drum beats that throb along with throaty bass lines, making the songs feel like a slap on the back that is just a bit too hard. Sometimes evocative of Joy Division on PCP, sometimes of Arab on Radar on codeine, Ian MacKaye's production maintains the right balance of tin-can sounds with bullfrog disco stylings. Screeching guitars and sex vocals fill out the space on tracks like "Pack of Wolves" while dysfunctional disco drums chain a song like "Deformative" to the bedrock. "Speaking in Tongues" almost totally devolves into mush-mouth vocals and busy, busy instrumentation, culminating with a cowbell rising above the fray.Black Eyes may be following a familiar trend in music by using the word 'black' in their name. But look at the bands they emulate -- Big Black, Black Flag and Black Sabbath, not to mention current trenders like Black Dice and Black Keys. That doesn't matter one scratch, though; the music they are creating is pulsing, pounding and original. And in a live setting, it should inspire the slack-jawed yokels to dance -- a valuable commodity in today's world of hipster apathy.Jonah Flicker Junkmedia.org Review"

Amazing!

junkmedia | 09/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can honestly say that I have never heard a band this unique, and this chaotic in a LONG time!



The music is pretty unique in its own right; 2 bass players, 2 drummers, 1 guitar player (who only plays noise), and 5 singers. All of this gives it a sort of Free Jazz sound with a hint of Noise. And since there are 5 singers, well, only 2 main ones but everyone contributes at some point, they have their own unique sound. One of the main singers has a fairly normal voice, while the other has an impossibly high and screechy voice which perfectly compliments their sound.



The lyrics are pretty interesting too; take the song "Deformative" for example. It's basically about a young man getting molested by a "man of the robe." Hmmm, so this band has a great sound, interesting vocals, AND inventive lyrics? AMAZING!



It's a shame they broke up after their second (and equally amazing) release."