Inward Eye

Inward Eye have really tried to capture the DIY nature of '70s punk in the artwork of this EP. It looks pretty gnarly, pretty dark and the lack of a title for the EP screams, "fuck you, we don't need no title!" The problem is that the music doesn't deliver on this aggressive attitude. Despite his best efforts, lead singer (and oldest brother of the three) Dave Erickson sounds more like Jason Stollsteimer than Johnny Rotten, and the opening riff of second track "Blind Paranoia" is closer to bluesy rock than music to trash your school to. Yet if you ignore the attempt to make this band something they're not you begin to appreciate what they are: a rock band with enough youth to really believe in what they're playing. The weakest track is closer "Times They Aren't A Changin'," as you can't really take it seriously, but "Shame" is a juddering truck of a song that would run you down as soon as look at you. If they manage to avoid misguided marketing these guys might just go far.