I didn't know what to expect from Spy Glass Blue, other than it was a project that involved Scaterd Few front man Allan Aguirre. They've been around since 1996, but this was my first listen. I guess I was expecting something different, as I was shocked to hear deep droning vocals, whether crooning or angry clearly in the style of Joy Division or The Smiths. The music is also a throwback to the alt rock, late 80s sound - strong catchy guitar riffs over a rich beat and background vocals substituting for synthesizer or keyboards. Think - Art of Noise gone new wave punk. The playing on this album is so precise it's mesmerizing. I can't shake the feeling that some of the playing has been recorded once and looped. Quite the departure from Scaterd Few's unique rawness.
Lyrically the EP has alt praise ("Mercy," "I will Love You") and love songs ("One and Only," "Come Away"), all with a dark edge, but for me the EP hit its stride with its darkest song "Stymie":
swimming shark infested waters
kissing all the creature features
sleeping with gomorrah's daughters
eating with the fattened preachers
stymie
Catchy and dark all at once. What's not to love?
Spy Glass Blue has a weird sort of inversion happening with this EP, if the song is lyrically complex, then the music sticks to a simple structure. In contrast the song "Vacant Places" consists of the line "I will fill your vacant places" repeating over the most varied and complex music on the disk. I admit I don't know what to do with that lyric, is there such thing a spiritual double-entendre?
I can't make up my mind, is Spy Glass Blue way too late for the 80s Alt scene or is it just early for the nostalgia party. Either way it's great for people who miss 80s alt music and wish it would be revived with fresh energy.
4 tocks
Other coverage for this album
Opus 2004Reviewed by Jason MoreheadMy first exposure to Allan Aguirre's music came when one of the guys in my high school youth group let me borrow a battered cassette of Scaterd Few's Sin Disease. It was a landmark album in my formative years, a riotous and compelling album full of urban and spiritual unrest and angst. Although often labelled "punk," it was much more than that, taking punk and blending it with goth, thrash,…The Phantom Tollbooth 2004Reviewed by Jason MoreheadMy first exposure to Allan Aguirre's music came when one of the guys in my high school youth group let me borrow a battered cassette of Scaterd Few's Sin Disease. It was a landmark album in my formative years, a riotous and compelling album full of urban and spiritual unrest and angst. Although often labelled "punk," it was much more than that, taking punk and blending it with goth, thrash,…Similar sounding releases
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