Review Summary: An undeniably good ride, which may get a little too cushy at times, but rarely ceases to feel comfortable and smooth.
What do you get when you throw together the bass player for Nirvana, the singer and guitarist for Meat Puppets and the drummer for Sublime? Some may rush into terms like “a grunge lover’s wet dream”, but with Eyes Adrift, the story is a little different. In fact, those looking for an orgy of refined aggression better look elsewhere;
Eyes Adrift provides none of the thrills found on albums such as
Bleach or
Meat Puppets II. However, that doesn’t mean this can’t be one damn fine album. And trust me: it is.
Unfortunately, this Krist Novoselic side project pretty much went unnoticed, as it suffered from an ailment typical of mold-breaking releases: being geared towards an audience who couldn’t give two sh*ts about its musical style. Effectively, Novoselic, Bud Gaugh and Curt Kirkwood eschew their previous styles in favor of a laid-back, very folky approach, which puts soothing drum beats and plaintive guitar leads before angular riffs and shouted vocals. And while this may drive away more purist Nirvana and Sublime fans, the open-minded few who decide to stay are in for an undeniably good ride, one which may get a little too cushy at times, but rarely ceases to feel comfortable and smooth.
Sleight Of Hand serves as master of ceremonies, inviting us in with its bossa-nova beat and the welcome addition of a trumpet - the only guest spot in the album – before unleashing what is by far the fastest, rockiest moment in the album, lead single
Alaska. This is a gem of a pop song, perfectly fitted for even the less rock-oriented radios, and which, in fairness, should sit alongside
Here Comes Your Man and
Summer of ‘69 in the pantheon of great guitar-driven pop songs. But you know what the good news is? It gets even better.
In fact, third track
Inquiring Minds improves upon the previous track’s already high standards, delivering a melancholy folk-rock track, based around Novoselic hypnotic intoning of
”they put flowers on your grave, JonBenet”. From there, the group rarely lets the ball drop, adeptly exploring all genres within the softer side of the music spectrum.
Blind Me, for example, comes in sounding like Neil Young, but evolves into a chorus straight out of one of the more plaintive Nirvana songs; follow-up
Dottie Dawn And Julie Jewel is more playful, sounding like it could be on a Phil Ochs record; and
Slow Race is a marvelously melancholy song, at once sweet, sad and longing, with a great chorus that sticks in your head after the first listen.
In truth, however, this could be said of nearly every song.
Untried, Solid and
Telescope all have memorable choruses and sweetly sad atmospheres, and endear themselves to the listener almost instantly. And while not everything that’s on here works, one has to wait until track 8 to hear a (somewhat) weaker song. However, this does not mean everything’s perfect in Eyes Adrift land: when weaker songs do appear, they are almost unworthy of belonging on this album.
Pyramids at least has an interesting chorus to pull us through, but
What I Said is quite unmemorable, and
Pasted nearly negates everything that came before. It’s a painfully long and drawn-out excuse for a track, basically a glorified jam session which, at 16 minutes’ lenght, seriously grates.
In addition, while Novoselic has a few good bass runs and Kirkwood delivers engaging vocals – sometimes straying eerily close to the late Kurt Cobain – Bud Gaugh is nearly wasted on this album, limited as he is to simple, straightforward slow-tempo beats with virtually no fills. The lack of tempo variation between tracks also causes the impression that they are all a little too alike, which the experimentation and catchy choruses never fully drive away.
Still, it would be unfair to pick on the album for these flaws. Sure, they aren’t that small, but when three-quarters of your songs are
this good, there is no two ways about it but to recommend it thoroughly. Would I have looked up this album if it didn’t feature Novoselic and Kirkwood? In all fairness, probably not. But, also in all fairness, it would have been my loss.
Eyes Adrift is an undeniably strong collection of songs, and open-minded fans of the involved players, as well as fans of the covered genres, will undoubtedly find a source of pleasure within its digital spires. Just pretend
Pasted never existed…
Recommended Tracks
Inquiring Minds
Untried
Slow Race
