Not that there really is a representative Tombstone In Their Eyes sound, but opening their latest album, Asylum Harbour, with their recent single, “In Your Eyes,” is a great move. Somewhere in its claustrophobic density, its lysergic radiance, and its abrasive-sweet psych-gaze ebbs and flows, you at least realize what you are getting into here and, more importantly, just how unique and exploratory the band is.
Then, as if to pull the rug out from under you and collapse any assumptions and expectations you may have formed from that first four-minute encounter, “Sweet As Pie” heads into slightly heavier territory, slightly more structured and melodic realms, and even, via the use of sumptuous harmonies, adds a sixties pop vibe to the proceedings—albeit one that is smothered with layers of psychedelic weight.
Such is the band’s nature: expectations are there to be thwarted, new pastures are to be explored, and even though there are recognizable Tombstone moves and themes to be found here, these are cast over a vast and fractured musical landscape. It’s best to just let yourself be carried off in its warm and welcoming tides, sink down through its sonic waters, and be carried along in its amniotic embrace.
“I Like To Feel Good” bends harsh, trip-hammer beats and grinding guitars into white noise music. “By My Side” shows them at their more conventional but no less quintessentially themselves, an alt-alt-alt-pop song for a jaded mainstream. “Set Me Free” perhaps owes a debt of gratitude to the legendary My Bloody Valentine. Then again, in some way, don’t we all?
There are bands claiming to be alternative, there are bands claiming to be carving out new sonic paths, and then there is Tombstone in Their Eyes.
Asylum Harbour album order
Bandcamp
Spotify
In Your Eyes
Bandcamp single
