Album Review: The 69 Eyes - West End

One of the things that drives me crazy about music is how once a genre develops, suddenly we find dozens of singers who all have the same basic tone and timbre. I find it hard to believe that everyone who sounds a certain way just so happens to want to make the same kind of music. Sure, I'm cynical, but it can't be a coincidence that so many of the post-grunge singers sounded like Eddie Vedder, or that every gothic rock singer sounds exactly the same. And that's what keeps me at arm's length from bands like The 69 Eyes. Listening to how blueprint their sound is makes it impossible to take them entirely seriously. It's obviously put-on to adhere to the genre's rules, and that limits the ways I can connect to the music.

Given the limitations in the vocal department, the melodies on this record have to be sterling for it to work. On first single "27 & Done", they do exactly that. The band is able to take the gothic feeling, yet still give it an almost upbeat energy that gets your foot tapping. That's a different approach than "Two Horns Up", which opens the album with a snarling attack, and plenty of almost growled vocals layered in the mix. That they can take both of those paths, make them unique, and still have them end up with slyly memorable songs, is quite a feat.

They can't keep that up over the course of the entire album, however. "Change" drags a bit with it's five-and-a-half minute runtime, getting a bit too repetitive by the time we reach the end. Then there's "Cheyenna", a single that wasn't catchy in the slightest, and is the weakest song on the album. It's where the limitations of this style become most apparent. When everything is subdued, and reliant on subtlety, the inferences have to be razor sharp if they're going to be heard. Sometimes weak writing can be glossed over by charismatic or dramatic performances. That's obviously not happening with gothic vocals.

The album alternates between really good stuff like "Death & Desire" and less interesting material like "The Last House On The Left" (coincidentally, that movie is terrible too). It winds up not just being a bit disjointed, but sucking the enjoyment out of the album. After the very good start, the momentum stalls out right at the point where you need it. The vocals already make the album monotone enough, so the dips in quality are hard to get through without wanting to hit the skip button.

There's enough good material on "West End" to still give the record a recommendation, and to be disappointed not everything lives up to that standard. There's half the record that is really good, even to this non-goth fan. If everything was that quality, this would be a pleasant surprise that could make a run for album of the month. But those few weak tracks are enough to derail the train. Gothic rock needs everything to be perfect if it's going to succeed, and throwing a perfect game is damn hard to do. The 69 Eyes puts up a quality start, but the bullpen might have just blown the save.