Ahh, THE HUMAN EYE's long awaited, long contemplated, heavily downloaded debut. Somehow various mixes of this album wound up in people's hands long before it was out. It actually got to the point where people were hollering out song titles I'd never heard at their record release show (and I'd been following them since their demo tape). Y'see, I'm a total package kind of guy. Especially when you have one of the best artists in recent memory doing the art work for the record. Tim Lampinen, the band's guitarist and vocalist, is a great collage artist in the outsider tradition. His art is on par with the insane, bizarre scrawlings of Nick Blinko for sheer intensity. Why anyone would want to bypass a whole section of the creeped out packaging I don't know....

The music reminds me of stop action photos moving quickly or an old silent movie where the actors movements are stilted and fragmented and it sometimes gets under your skin, but if you saw it move with more fluidity, it would somehow be less appealing. See "Nosferatu's Walk" for a hint. The weird stilted feeling just makes it sound loopy and creepy. There's flashes of all sorts of bands like GONG, HAWKWIND, KING CRIMSON, CHROME, ALICE COOPER, STOOGES, ROXY MUSIC, SUN RA, ALBERT AYLER, WEIRDOS, GERMS, and so on. But they're all just flashes. This is a record collection deconstructed then safety pinned back together in rag tag form by mutants who drink thalidomide for kicks. And you will either love it or hate it. There is no in-between. There are times when it's too much for me to take and other times when it's just right so I'm just as guilty. But, you can't help but feel something when hearing a track like "Age". It's just not possible to avoid as it stabs and claws it's way into your ears.

In closing, this is a world of style over substance. HUMAN EYE delivers both. The methodology they use to deliver them may seem messy at first glance or listen, but, once you dig in your heels you'll find that there's a maniacal drive within them to exorcise the demons in their heads. Pure focus, single minded in their approach. Everything and nothing smash into each other to make something . Something relevant in today's world of slick xerox's of musical genres that fit into perfect slots.

- Two Tub Tony

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/human_eye

MP3 SOUND SCRAP: Car Was Alive

RELATED ITEMS: No related articles at this time.