Eastern Skies, Western Eyes, Map's second EP for Velvet Blue, finds them sounding even more like Starflyer 59--unsurprising, since both vocalist/guitarist Josh Dooley and drummer Joseph Esquibel do time in Starflyer, and since Jason Martin himself produces the EP. They're far from a rip-off though; they've got their own sound and develop it nicely in the fourteen minutes presented here.
The EP starts off with "Lazy Susan Serenade," a fine instrumental that's probably the record's highlight. That's not to say that the other songs are substandard, though--the band pulls off their tales of heartbreak with fine lounge aplomb, and if Dooley's vocals are a bit incomprehensible at times, they're also pleasant and fit the band's sound quite well. If I do have a complaint, it's that the EP ends way too early, and actually seems to break off right in the middle of "Crash."
4 tocks
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #93Reviewed by Earl CampbellTheir second EP in a year, and Map sounds more like Starflyer 59 than ever, even copping riffs straight off of everything from Silver to Easy Come Easy Go and Leave Here A Stranger, without much, if any, attempt at facade. It would seem that Jason Martin's production credit is more like a clue to whose left-over songs are on this album, like Map is some kind of SoCal indie rock boy band…Similar sounding releases
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2004The Great DepressionUnconscious Pilot
2003Viva VoceLovers, Lead the Way!
2005Starflyer 59The Last Laurel
2005My Morning JacketZ
2005MeryllYou've Got Cousins
