Album Review: The Heavy Eyes - "Focus"

Way back in a different world in 2020, The Heavy Eyes dropped the thunderous Love Like Machines on the world, and showed every band that thought their guitars were fuzzy just how short of the yardmarker they were.  It had been a long time since any band had turned the distortion up that much and still cranked out groovy, accessible rock that was syrupy thick and impossible not to nod to.

Their new album Focus starts much the same way, with the rhythmic hammer of “Concrete Halloween” (accompanied by a video featuring the band’s signature animated skeletons.) There’s the usual verse-chorus-verse of the opening minutes, and then the bottom of the song drops out into the eyelid-drooping thump of the bridge, before the main riff comes back to the fore for the outro.  With that, the album is off to a promising start.

Then, Focus takes on something of a different bent.  A couple cuts down we get “Sarissa,” a slow burner that’s most analogous to “Vera Cruz” from the previous record.  Which only merits mention because “Vera Cruz” was probably the worst song on Love Like Machines, and yet “Sarissa” is one of the best on Focus.  Which is not to say that this new album sets a lower bar, but that the band has worked on the formula of this type of song and turned it into something more novel and appreciable.  It sounds like an overdriven version of something John Garcia would have written immediately after leaving Kyuss.

This leads into “Corporal Upham,” another slow but soulful dirge, which reduces the characteristic fuzz in favor of a thin, anguished guitar tone that helps sell the mood.  Focus, by this point, has revealed its colors - this will not be a sequel to what has come before.  The Heavy Eyes have crafted something akin to what we know them for, but different enough to differentiate from their idiom.

Naturally, just as the album sends us in a new direction, we hit “Troublesome Priest,” where the band reminds us that they can still bring a fuzzed-out banger when they want to.  It feels a little shameful to admit when the band shows such skill in a new direction…but this is still where the band is at their best, when the songs drip with that teeth-bared, brooding swagger that proves rock isn’t dead.

That’s the story of Focus in a nutshell.  The Heavy Eyes have leaned ever so slightly away from the you–got-chocolate-in-my-peanut-butter mix of hard and stoner rock that they brandished with such skill.  They’ve instead tried to create something just a little more cerebral, a little more dynamic, a little more emotive.

Which is to say that, in truth, Focus lacks some of the punch of its predecessor, and the album is worse for it, even as the band proves they can still bring those chops when they want to (check out the guitar tone on “Words,” late in the album.)  That doesn’t mean Focus is a failure - it advances the portfolio of The Heavy Eyes, and they show skill in weaving something new and trying to evolve.  This new record is still worth listening to, just be prepared for a different experience.  Enjoyment seems to vary with multiple listens - sometimes it sounds amazing, and sometimes it doesn’t quite measure up.  Make sure to give it a real chance.