EYES OF ISIS - EP review added 8th October 2010
EP Review: Hot As Hell EP (2010)
For fans of: Rock... and nice parasols
Eyes Of Isis is a new act on the Canadian indie/rock scene. With an average age of seventeen (at the time of writing), the foursome - Jordan Davidson on lead vocals and guitar, Chase Rennie on lead guitar and vocals, Joey Emerson on bass, and Aaron Folkersen on drums - released a full length self titled demo in 2009. The Hot As Hell EP follows less than a year later.
The sound, as mentioned, is somewhere between indie and full-blown rock. There's a certain amount of volume going on here, but nothing you could refer to as heaviness. In parts the record takes its cues from old British punk, in others it references the 1960s. Overall the sound, mainly because of the spare production, is retro-esque and raw.
The thing that really hits home is the lyrics. Not sure who the main writer of the words is, but they clearly like a good moan. And they like a bad cliche too. A lot of the release is actually, unfortunately, rather irritating. It sounds like someone having a rant about something no one cares about...rather than a meaningful song. Shame, as when Eyes Of Isis get it right they actually sound good.
'All I Need' is frankly amateurish and awful. The title track is a little better, but not by a long way. 'Page Of Love' and 'One And Only' are back at Track. 1 levels of listening pleasure. By the time 'Tonight' comes around, all hope is almost gone. Amazingly though, it's actually rather splendid. I'm not sure what happened with the first 4 songs, but if this band can focus on the sound of the closing entry and improve and expand upon it, they may be onto something rather excellent.
As a whole, this EP is a bit of a pile of pants. However, the final track does give it a few moments of glory...and for that Eyes Of Isis should be commended.
Check out... The final track.
Track List:
01. All I Need
02. Hot As Hell
03. Page Of Love
04. One And Only
05. Tonight
Artist's website(s): Eyes Of Isis | MySpace | Facebook
