The Eyesores - Bent At The Waist

RYAN:

The Eyesores...where do I begin.

Those of you who have been in Providence for the past 10+ years have seen some of these folks in different bands/projects and you are most probably familiar with the eccentric music of Mr. Alec K. Readfearn, accordionist extraordinaire.

I personally remember sometime around 1990ish going into the Rocket, or Babyhead or whatever to play a show with my band. We played, got off and soon after this guy got on stage with an accordion. I laughed and teased to my friend. Accordion?! The spotlight came on and the guy started playing his accordion through a distortion pedal or something. It was totally fucked up. It did not take me long to realize that I was an idiot, and that the guy on stage was schooling me bigtime. That was the 1st time I saw Alec play.

While looking up the spelling for accordionist, I came upon a definition of the word:

ac·cor·di·on Pronunciation Key ( -kôr d - n)

n.

A portable wind instrument with a small keyboard and free metal reeds that sound when air is forced past them by pleated bellows operated by the player.

adj.

Having folds or bends like the bellows of an accordion:

There is something about “Having folds or bends like the bellows of an accordion” that really seems poetically apropos. The flow of that sentence reminds me of the flow of the Eyesores’ music. Y’know in old cartoons from the 70s when someone would put some pie in the windowsill and the smell was somehow visible…wafting through the air until it hit the another character’s nose? Then they would be blissfully lifted into the air, floating up and down towards the pie?

That is what this album is like.

Smiling, Chris said to me upon handing me my copy, “I know your gonna hate this…but …” knowing that I tend to steer more towards the Rock, noise and metal. I popped it into my car and went to the hardware store to get some house shit. I had parked and was ready to get into the store. Time passed. A few songs later I had realized that I was just sitting in the parking lot with my car running, listening to the cd. I was trapped in that pie-smell stuff and did not know it.

CHRIS:

Honestly, I wasn’t going to review this record. First of all, my boyfriend’s in the band and I don’t want anyone to think this review biased. Secondly, I hear him complain about other Eyesores reviews. Not that they’re negative (so far they’ve all been good), just that they make comparisons he feels are off base. That’s a lot of pressure. But I have a duty to LON!

Having said that, let me start by finishing the quote Ryan started, “…I absolutely love it.”

This record is so good, it’s being released twice. The Eyesores first released Bent at the Waist on their own two years ago. For some reason it didn’t receive any label interest, so Bent was shelved, and The Eyesores took a backseat to other member projects. Then along comes Handsome Records. A burgeoning Providence record label who has some success with String Builder (who actually shares members with The Eyesores) and Purple Ivy Shadows.

Bent is prettily dark and bittersweet at times (actually most of the time). Alec draws on life experience: hitting rock bottom. Heroin addiction, alcoholism, and broken hearts make for good song fodder. Shopping Cart’s powerfully mournful violin, accordion and bowed cymbals coupled with the songs almost excruciatingly sad lyrics are amazing (“I still got your name on the tip of my tongue, but now it tastes bitter as bile.”) Thousand Yard Stare is a beautiful and depressing tango about waiting around in rehab. Dashboard Lazarus is the most rocking song on the record. It has a really powerful chorus and strange electronic ending. It’s definitely they’re most “pop” song.

Did I say this record was good? I think it’s fantastic. If you don’t believe me, check out the MP3’s. Hear for yourself.

To purchase Bent at the Waist contact Handsome Records. Stay tuned to LON for the record release party coming soon.