This two-song EP is the twentieth release by local SLC label 8ctopus Records, and the first one to be put out on seven-inch vinyl.  As with other discs released by label owner Eli Morrison (Vile Blue Shades, the Wolfs, Pink Lightnin’, etc.), there is a certain amount of built-in rarity with this one—it is limited to 250 copies. 

Local Reviews: Eyes and Ears

By
April 23, 2013

Local Music Reviews

Eyes and Ears

Howl at the Moon/Slave Wage 7”

8ctopus

Street: 08.2008

Eyes and Ears = The Pixies + The Wipers + Miss Derringer

This two-song EP is the twentieth release by local SLC label 8ctopus Records, and the first one to be put out on seven-inch vinyl.  As with other discs released by label owner Eli Morrison (Vile Blue Shades, the Wolfs, Pink Lightnin’, etc.), there is a certain amount of built-in rarity with this one—it is limited to 250 copies. Where moving 250 copies of a lousy single could be problematic, I cannot imagine this one sticking around for too long.  It is just too good.  The Denver-based band Eyes and Ears deliver two refreshingly hard rock songs, with a solid dose of male/female call-and-response vocals and a serious, dark catchiness to it.  The female vocal and hard sound may remind some of an early, horn-free No Doubt, but that isn’t really accurate.  Sure, it is pop music, but it’s harder, more guitar-driven and much more akin to the style of hard chick rock put out in the early 2000s by Sympathy for the Record Industry.