Shedding Some Light On The Blind Eyes
“We’re just a rock and roll band. We just want you to dance.”
- Matt Picker, drummer of The Blind Eyes
Like many of the other bands I’ve stumbled upon on MySpace…The Blind Eyes have a rather unique sound. I’ve heard one explanation of their sound that I totally agree with though: Frank Sinatra + The Jam = The Blind Eyes. For anyone who doesn’t know, The Jam were an English alternative punk rock group from the 70’s….you might know their song “That’s Entertainment”. Yes, they have an interesting sound, one that immediately convinced me that I should get my hands on their debut album Modernity.
The Blind Eyes are just a group of guys from St. Louis that love to play music. They told me that the band is really all about having a good time and everything else is just icing on the cake. The Blind Eyes used to all be in a different band together but that fizzled out and after a while the three of them got together and started writing the songs that would eventually become Modernity.
Modernity opens with the song that made me want to get this album, “January”. I remember listening to this track back in April, when spring was finally starting and that was a good thing because “January” is all about spring, surprisingly. Lead vocalist Seth Porter sings “The end of the world may be coming soon, but it’s hard to care on a sunny afternoon when you’ve got tailpipes spewin’, doom and gloomin’, you hear a rap-tap-tat-tat-a-tat on your door!” through the chorus. Their track “Forget About Everything” immediately reminds me of The Clash, with its quicker, more urgent and English punk-sounding chorus being shouted by bassist Kevin Schneider: “Forget about everything that you ever believed in!!!” The Clash similarities continue on their shuffling, rollicking song about life in the city, “The High Life”. The slow groove of “A New Original” is great change of pace as Porter sings about trying to write a song that would “stand the test of time.” One of my favorite songs on this album was undoubtedly the closer “Go Right Now”. I really can’t help but sing along with the chorus as Porter shouts that you should “crawl before you walk before run before you fly, wink before you think before you go before you try; times not up I’m starting to think that nothing’s gonna happen unless I go right now!”
To sum up The Blind Eyes for you: they’re a great power-pop band. They cite their major influences as being Elvis Costello, The Clash, The Jam and Thin Lizzy…a veritable Who’s Who of English power-pop and mod-punk. Their album Modernity is great to work out to or to listen to when the sun is finally starting to come out. I highly recommend you check out The Blind Eyes, you won’t be disappointed.
- Matt Picker, drummer of The Blind Eyes
Like many of the other bands I’ve stumbled upon on MySpace…The Blind Eyes have a rather unique sound. I’ve heard one explanation of their sound that I totally agree with though: Frank Sinatra + The Jam = The Blind Eyes. For anyone who doesn’t know, The Jam were an English alternative punk rock group from the 70’s….you might know their song “That’s Entertainment”. Yes, they have an interesting sound, one that immediately convinced me that I should get my hands on their debut album Modernity.
The Blind Eyes are just a group of guys from St. Louis that love to play music. They told me that the band is really all about having a good time and everything else is just icing on the cake. The Blind Eyes used to all be in a different band together but that fizzled out and after a while the three of them got together and started writing the songs that would eventually become Modernity.
Modernity opens with the song that made me want to get this album, “January”. I remember listening to this track back in April, when spring was finally starting and that was a good thing because “January” is all about spring, surprisingly. Lead vocalist Seth Porter sings “The end of the world may be coming soon, but it’s hard to care on a sunny afternoon when you’ve got tailpipes spewin’, doom and gloomin’, you hear a rap-tap-tat-tat-a-tat on your door!” through the chorus. Their track “Forget About Everything” immediately reminds me of The Clash, with its quicker, more urgent and English punk-sounding chorus being shouted by bassist Kevin Schneider: “Forget about everything that you ever believed in!!!” The Clash similarities continue on their shuffling, rollicking song about life in the city, “The High Life”. The slow groove of “A New Original” is great change of pace as Porter sings about trying to write a song that would “stand the test of time.” One of my favorite songs on this album was undoubtedly the closer “Go Right Now”. I really can’t help but sing along with the chorus as Porter shouts that you should “crawl before you walk before run before you fly, wink before you think before you go before you try; times not up I’m starting to think that nothing’s gonna happen unless I go right now!”
To sum up The Blind Eyes for you: they’re a great power-pop band. They cite their major influences as being Elvis Costello, The Clash, The Jam and Thin Lizzy…a veritable Who’s Who of English power-pop and mod-punk. Their album Modernity is great to work out to or to listen to when the sun is finally starting to come out. I highly recommend you check out The Blind Eyes, you won’t be disappointed.
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