Saturday, July 20, 2013

“Shake the Dust” by Evil Eyes – A Song Review

     After admitting to be under the control of the "obsessive gene," there is very little credibility to the argument that you have patience. The San Francisco band Evil Eyes releases its debut album “Borderlines” next week (July 24 – Wait, a Wednesday album release in the U.S.?). Obviously, patient contributors to a blog would wait until the release, and then review the album. But that approach is reserved for bloggers having will power, not us.

     We ran into the single “Shake the Dust” earlier this week and have listened to it multiple times per day since the discovery. For its initial twenty eight seconds, the song is subdued and the temptation is to reach for the volume control. However, at the 0:29 mark, the guitar demands attention and the drums help set a very different energy level. Interestingly, the vocals resist, since the voices remain controlled. The subdued-then-energetic sequence repeats, starting at the 2:00 mark, but the vocals are more cooperative this time. “Shake the Dust” ends with the sequence in reverse. As my blog partner says, “Good stuff!”

     The size of the band varies with your source of information. On their SoundCloud site, the statement is that Evil Eyes is a two-piece band, but the group’s Bandcamp and Facebook sites list the members as Greg Mabry (vocals, guitar), Joe Frabotta (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion), Aleks Bars (bass), and Brian Damert (drums).  The album cover of “Borderlines” only shows Mabry and Frabotta, who were college friends in Tennessee before moving to San Francisco. Our position is that the sound is too “big” for two musicians - so four it is.

     "Shake the Dust" by Evil Eyes

The complete list of songs on the “Borderlines” album is:
1.  “Shake The Dust”
2.  “In The Summer”
3.  “Roll On”
4.  “Saw Her In The Sun”
5.  “Keep Your Mind On Me”
6.  “Flow”
7.  “Borderlines”
8.  “Evil Eyes”
9.  “Black Smoke”
10. “Don't Wait”
11. “Slow Love”
12. Paper Thin Moon"

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