Electric Eye

Pick-up, Lift-off, Space, Time

Written by: BV on 25/09/2013 14:41:28

It has by all means been a terrifically psychedelic summer and although the glorious warmth of the season is turning darker and colder every day, I can take solace in the fact that this year has been nothing less than fantastic when looking at the sheer amount of psychedelic albums that have been released thus far this year. Qualitatively speaking, the level has been rather high as well. For those that are fans of drone-rock and heavy-psych, the Norwegian outfit called Electric Eye might not be a new name but for those uninitiated, I can tell you that their debut album, “Pick-up, Lift-off, Space, Time”, is a jangling monster of space-rock that fits the album title in the most ludicrously apt way.

Taking off with “6am”, an all-instrumental space-rock escapade, Electric Eye’s fondness for all-engulfing guitar sounds immediately shines bright – brighter than the stars they seek. The nearly uncanny wall of sound is pummeling through my headphones in an effort to literally engulf my listening experience, effectively isolating me from the outside world. As a formula, Electric Eye don’t seem to stray particularly from this listening experience – save perhaps for the rather soothing “Lake Geneva” where the absolutely intense levels of sound have been dialed back a notch or two to diversify the listening experience – which is a good idea at this point. “Lake Geneva” is also notable in the sense that this is the first appearance of vocals on the album, and although they may be scarce, they blend perfectly with the instrumental section (which, coincidentally sounds remarkably like the newly reformed legends in Loop).

As far as the casual listener goes, none of the above could be claimed to be entry-level tracks. For that, one might seek the inherent bluesy feel of “The Road” or the somewhat BRMC-like “Kruskontroll” – which is, when all is said and done, the most approachable track on the album, standing as a beam of conventional light in the midst of a space-rock onslaught. As far as singles go, though, “Tangerine” is a peculiar one. Droning for close to nine minutes, this free-floater is an odd-choice for a single release – yet, it is understandable as the track has an inherent quality to it and showcases much of what psychedelic music is really about. The track is a free-floating canvas of sound wherein the guitars are placed meticulously on top in an ever-improvisational sea of sound, whilst the apparent sitar sound keeps the drone steadily in check.

However, there is a slight decline in intensity as most of the songs have rather shortened run times after the midpoint of the album. Whilst this may seem as a good thing, it upset the dynamic for me – making for a somewhat predictable decline in runtime and intensity that leads up to the far too mellow drone closer “Electric Eye”, where I get the feeling of being in orbit without cause, without reason and without purpose. - A far too mellow ending for such an intensely opened album.

As far as debuts go however, Electric Eye have succeeded in some degree. They have not reinvented the genre as a whole, but they have created a solid outing that should appeal to fans of the genre. It’s a good starting point and a great platform for development. So now that they’ve shown what they’ve got, I suggest they start developing that sound immediately.

7

Download: Tangerine, Lake Geneva, 6am
For The Fans Of: Giöbia, The Cosmic Dead, Pyramidal
Listen: Facebook

Release date 05.04.2013
Klangkollektivet / Fuzz Club Records


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