EYES
Underperformer
INDISCIPLINARIAN
Danish hardcore debutants set their sights high
The debut album from Danish self-confessed “hardcore fusionists” Eyes is certainly promising, although it doesn’t quite match their undoubted ambition. Over the course of 10 tracks there are more than enough nods to legendary punk and hardcore acts, from Big Black on the bulging bass of Voiceswhispersecretsand-speakonlytruths, to Converge on the scabrous Choke and Refused on… well, pretty much everything. It’s all delivered with alongside a healthy dose of Scandic rock’n’roll that gives Underperformer a dizzyingly exciting edge, but there is a little too much reliance on killing you with a single riff on a few too many of the songs. When they flex their dynamic muscles to the full, as on the closing rollercoaster of Crutches, Eyes are absolutely stunning. Underperformer is good, but the signs are there that they’re capable of better.