Album Review: Inward Eye – "Throwing Bricks Instead of Kisses"

So, what happened?

Don’t get me wrong, this album is by no accounts bad, but it wasn’t what I expected when I put the disk in my CD player. The album opens with Shame, their single that’s been creating waves for months now and is a true, raw punk anthem that to behold live is truly a memorable experience.

But as soon as we’re into the second track, Blind Paranoia, something just sounds off. The song is still gritty, but it sounds a little more shiny and clean than Shame.

Plus you might notice the vocals suddenly sound less like Dave and more like the singer of another certain Canadian band who just happened to have a member who had recording and production influence over this recording… *cough Our Lady Peace cough*

If I can go off the beaten path for a moment, this does kind of piss me off a bit. Now don’t get me wrong, OLP is a great band to have in your corner in the Canadian music scene, if not the best, but this band is not Our Lady Peace. As a result there are times this album feels like it’s almost battling with itself as the brothers Erickson are trying to sound true to themselves, but the fingers on the buttons and sliders have different plans. This is sadly the downside of multiple producers, and an example of when an ego gets their hands on an extremely talented young band with a bottomless well of potential and won’t let them flow their own way.

Again, this album is fantastic for the most part still, but the glaring production influence makes you feel for the boys, who clearly wanted to make a punk album not an Our Lady Peace album. I can appreciate that the label will want to appeal to a larger audience by toning down the raw, guttery punk and making it a more pop rock album, but if I wanted to buy an Our Lady Peace album, I would have bought Burn Burn.

I’m hoping that this move was only done for the band’s debut album, and that once they have built an appeal across larger audiences, that the label will let them do their own thing before their old fan base starts to grumble and wrongfully accuse the guys of “selling out”; I can appreciate blending mainstream appeal with inarguable talent, it’s just an adjustment I’ll have to make personally.

Again I want to stress, I love Inward Eye. Their live show is awe-inspiring and has a true, raw punk flavour to it. They have fantastic songs and amazing creativity while appealing to a market that has long been neglected while labels try to push Green Day, Avril, Sum 41 and Relient K down our throats telling us “This is punk! Really, it is!”

Okay fine Green Day used to be punk, but those days died after Kerplunk.

Inward Eye is too good a band to have had this happen to them, the fact that their amazing song, Second Class Citizen, which had potential to be the next Smells Like Teen Spirit if used properly (yes it is that good, this could have been an anthem of a generation), was written right off the album while Don’t Paint It Blue, which is literally just Clumsy reworked, is said to be pushed as a future single; and Liar feels like it would work better for a powerpop band than a band that many of us see as the revival of true punk rock.

Again I don’t want to sound like doom and gloom, this is a great album and I do not regret buying it, but it’s just not what I expected when I bought an Inward Eye release; maybe I’ve been spoiled by their live shows and past EPs, who knows.

The album is worth picking up, and if you don’t have much exposure to the band already then you very well will enjoy this album. It has tracks such as Liar and Don’t Paint It Blue to cater to the pop-loving crowd, while the longer-term fans will still have treats in You Know I Know, Heroine Heart and the best track on the album, in my opinion, the awesome Day After Day… if only Second Class Citizen was on this album… no I will not let this go!

Final thoughts: the album is great, as far as commercialism goes this can arguably be called a perfect album because of the marketability and sheer talent, the only thing wrong in this review is my difficulty with accepting something I’m not used to.

Great album, I’d recommend purchasing it on ITunes for just $7.99 (unless you’re like me and have to have the physical, tangible CD), you won’t regret it, and while you’re at it, download their old EP for free from their website.

I’m out

www.myspace.com/inwardeye