UK post punk trio Shield Your Eyes are getting ready to release their new album Theme From Kindness, which will be released on October 18th. Check out some early reviews of the record...
"Greatness unfolding before your ears. Right, I realize that you haven’t heard of Shield Your Eyes. I’m also acutely aware that all sorts of music journalist hack bitches (myself not unincluded) are constantly using whatever sites or publications they write for to constantly proclaim this band or that “the next big thing” only for them to crumble under the weight of expectation when you make the effort to check them out. While I wouldn’t claim that Shield Your Eyes are likely to be the next big thing – they’re far too commercially-unacceptable for that – I will state quite happily that this band is one of a very few London (or even elsewhere) acts who inspire me to huge excitement simply by virtue of their complete originality and total excellence. Pixie Lott fans may look away now. If you think Oasis are the best thing to happen to music, firstly you’re wrong (and I can prove it in ten seconds on the back of a cigarette packet while shagging your mum), and secondly you should know that this record is unlikely to be for you. If, however, you like Sonic Youth, Bob Tilton (the band not the preacher, you tit), Awesome Color and that kind of thing, and you are always on the lookout for bands who sound like themselves rather than those aforementioned acts, yet can be considered alongside them, I implore you to purchase “Theme From Kindness” plus their self-titled debut and last years’ “Shield ‘Em”, and then to catch the trio live as soon as possible. Because not only will you fail to be disappointed, but you will be so charmed, so drawn in by their music you will wish to seek me out and reward me with money and beer simply for the recommendation. Well, it would be nice. Because, you see, the music of Shield Your Eyes goes in through the ears and directly into your soul. This is some of the most heartfelt blues ever written, without sounding in the slightest like your idea of the blues. This is raw, stripped down, passionate music, delivered with a totally original approach, an avalanche of drums, a four-stringed guitar and a fuck of a lot of guts. This is the sound of a band who have found their own way to go, and are proceeding happily along it with neither compromise nor a thought of doing anything other than what their hearts tell them. While “Theme From Kindness” may already be charting a development from their previous work, their creativity is spreading in some inspired new directions. “Aves”, for instance, sounds like “Maggie May” would if it had been written by John Martyn and John Martyn had been born in New York 30 years later and signed to Ecstatic Peace, and even though it’s gentler tones provide a great counterpoint to the bluster and crash of some of the other songs, it still somehow retains the same impact. Guitarist / singer Steph not only has an incredible and unique guitar technique, he howls like a dog with a sore throat and it somehow sounds more soulful than Ruby Turner at her best. Shield Your Eyes are just consistently, mind-bogglingly great; miss ‘em at your peril and don’t say I didn’t warn ya... - Subba Cultcha, Eddie Thomas 2010
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