FDF Volume 3 Issue 247 Eyes Adrift - Self Titled

By: March


Album – Eyes Adrift
Artist – Eyes Adrift
Key Players – Bud Gaugh – drums and percussion. Curt Kirkwood – guitar, lead vocals on most , Krist Novoselic – bass, vocals on 3,6 and 12.
Produced By – Stuart Sullivan

Release Date – September 24, 2002

What caused me to blow off the dust? - I am not even sure how I stumbled upon this cd to begin with. I recall being struck by 2-3 songs though. Its just been sitting on the shelf for a while.

Overview – So you take the bassist from Nirvana, the guitar player from the Meat Puppets, toss in the drummer from Sublime..and well..you have it. The band would blend alternative rock and “cow punk” for a pretty fun romp. They'd disband in 2003 after this lone release.

FDF Comments (aka the songs) – Gaugh opens on the cymbals to get “Sleight of Hand” underway. Kirkwood strums his guitar and before you know it a deep bassline is swooping in. Filled with percussive instruments the band is comforatble with its laid back feel and pace. It feels like a big change from what the each members prior bands had done. “Alaska” is a little more heavy with the guitars, but the band still holds to the “power trio” with some big riffs and Gaugh clacking off the snare drum. A long guitar opens up “Inquiring Minds” with Gaugh hardly touching the cymbals. This is the first track that Novoselic has lead vocals. The track is about the murdered girl “JonBenet Ramsey” and they sing her name about putting flowers on her grave. The bass and drums are top notch on the track, it is mixed flawless and Kirkwood really has a great tone for the duration. “Untried” again finds Kirkwood in fine form on guitar. A clean guitar sound throughout after a simple drum intro finds Kirkwood a little more laid back on his waving vocals. The acoustic guitars blend with a few electric chords as “Blind to Me” gets underway. Again, we are laid back some vocally. Novoselic has a nice tone to his bass and seems okay with a secondary role on the track. It is a well mixed track with the subtle drum work from Gaugh ringing out. “Dottie Dawn and Julie Jewel” finds Novoselic on the lead vocals with a deep country vibe. Kirkwood uses a slide on this guitar and Gaugh really has a solid back beat for the duration. You can hear the smile in Novoselic's voice which is a lot of fun. This was one of the first songs from the collection that really stood out with me. We feel a bit more “heavy” as “Solid” gets underway. Big guitar riffs with cymbal smashes, but we mellow it out vocally. Kirkwood seems in his element when he can have a laid back delivery. There are a few more vocal harmonies but they are not expansive on the track. We go laid back again on “Pyramids” which finds Gaugh playing some keyboards. This adds a nice touch to the bass/drum/guitar feel of the record. Kirkwood again is smooth and not pushing himself too hard. They have an exended outtro on the track where they find a comforatble pocket to play. We get heavy, again thankully, at the start of “Telescope”. The guitar and bass seem to have a “chugging” sound which help set it as another stand out on the album. As solid as the band is, the heavier stuff just seems to sit better with me personally. Kirkwood actually seems to get angry with his guitar on the backend of the track. “Slow Race” has about a 30 second slow intro before the guitar comes up and finds Gaugh slowly rap-tapping on his snare. Novoselic's bass work works in and out, providing a welcome feel to the track. “What I Said” is another track with a more laid back feel before the full band comes in. Here the band has a nice full sound for the three piece and the vocals are strong and there is a perfect guitar/slide solo. The album concludes with the lengthy track “Pasted”. It starts off noisy, then settles right back down. Novoselic has the lead vocals and it has little bit of rock-a-billy feel to it, but not the 12 bar blues to go with it. The band changes directions a lot, mostly it feels like they are trying to find their way. There are longer guitar solos with rumbling drums and then a longer buzzy guitar run. It can be a little taxing on the listen and sort of an odd choice for an album closer, but it makes sense at the same time since you will be challenged as a listener. It seems to be a long and loose jam session.

Where are they now? - This was a one and done thing for the band. Kirkwood is back with his band The Meat Puppets. Gaugh is back with the new incarnation of Sublime called, Sublime with Rome. Novoselic wrote a weekly blog for a bit and is currently in law school.

FDF Personal Comments (aka the Live experience) – I never saw the band live, and there is a pretty good chance there was never a tour.

FDF Overall Take – What is good, is really good on this. Personally I'd like a little heavier of a record. Even with the electric guitars it never really seemed to unload on the listener. The band found a comforatble place to have some fun. If you stumble upon it you may be more surprised than you expected.

Curious? Check out some MUSIC!

Dottie Dawn & Julie Jewel.
Inquiring Minds
Telescope

The album is out of print, but you can track it down easy enough, like right here