Blind Eye View

"Perfume" CDEP

Fluffer Records

Genres: alternative rock, rock, indie rock

Mar 10 - 16 2003

Blind Eye View are a local band from Belfast who play their own sort of emotional alternative rock.  Their music is heavily melodic, with your standard fourpiece guitar/bass/drums/vocals line-up.  Although the songs are often whiny, and the sound quality is definitely lacking, there's a certain charm that BEV possesses.

Firstly, it must be said, "Healthy" is a throwaway track.  With painfully whiny vocals and a chorus based around the lyrics "You seem so/You seem so young/When you suck my/You suck my thumb," it's not the type of track that you can listen to more than once.

The other tracks, however, fare better.  "What We Lost In The Process" is a fast-paced indie rock track with a zippy bassline and a cool chorus that calls to mind a less noisy Archers of Loaf.  "Poser" is a pleasant little number that revels in tastefully emotional vocals and even some well-placed violin accompaniment.  The times when the voices come together for some nice vocal harmonies are really pleasant.

The title track, "Perfume," has two versions on this EP, the regular version and the "radio edit."  Needless to say, the original is far superior.  "Perfume" is a nice tune that boasts a neat harmonic chorus.  The vocals border on whininess, but this problem isn't severe enough to earn them the "emo filth" tag.

Altogether, this is an okay EP that will hopefully act as a stepping stone for the band, who have yet to record a debut album.  There is certainly lots of promise in the simple, catchy songs here, but BEV have a considerable amount of work to do before they tackle a full-length release.

74%

Fun Fact: BEV have apparently played 55 gigs to date with a whole number of local bands.  That's quite a bit, seeing as they've only been around for a few years.  Just thought you should know.

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 5 songs, distributed by the band, released 2002]