by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
After a five year absence, Oakland’s Marbled Eye have returned, and well… they’ve never sounded better. The band’s new album, Read The Air, is out today via Summer Shade and Digital Regress, a record that expands the quartet’s post-punk beyond steely minimalism into something a bit more wiry and abstract but still tightly in-tact. There’s more texture throughout the record and the band take a varied approach to the sonic attack, at times droning and rhythmically detached, but always pulsating and wound for impact.
With the record out today, the band are sharing a new music video for “Tonight,” one of the album’s many highlights. The self-directed video captures the group loading out of their practice space, hitting the streets, and arriving to the show, as glamorous a process as one might hope. Check out the video below together with a walk through of the album via Marbled Eye’s drummer, Alex Shen.
TRACK BY TRACK:
Read The Air: Some people can’t read a room, I feel like everything comes down to respect and perception. Theme in general of this pandemic era. Let this record be a friendly reminder to look inward too though. Criticize yourself before you criticize someone else!!
In The Static: Visit www.lowergrandradio.com for more information…
Tonight: This song is about not being able to turn down a good time. Once the idea is planted I have to see it to completion. Whether that's pulling an all nighter or just someone mentioning chicken wings and some guinness haha. Sometimes you just gotta get out the house. Also, people tend to think Guinness is heavy, too dark, they tried it once “back in the day” blah blah, but actually it’s quite smooth, lower in calories and consistent from a tap especially. C’mon.
Starting Over: This song is about building up the energy to do whatever you need to do to move forward when it might be easier to live in blissful ignorance. Sometimes, everybody needs a break from the present, to look at the future, y’know what I mean?
See It Too: Comparing ourselves in this day and age is the name of the game. We need social media blinders so if we do compare, we’re just seeing a one-block radius instead of looking at Google earth, you know what i mean? Everybody just give it a rest - we need to build each other up instead of breaking it all down. Break down walls, not each other!
All The Pieces: Some people are just takers, that’s all they can do. Or always the victim…empathy is taught at a young age, or isn’t. Makes me think of a boss who uses fear to get results, or the co-worker where nothing is ever right.
Another Year: Okay, drummer here, and you know all those memes and jokes about drummers who can’t keep time? Well they’re all true. Maybe we can count bars, but when it comes to receipts, excel sheets and all that, forget it. Keep it simple for us guitar players!! This is our effort to pop it off a bit for some balance in the guitar work.
Motion: As close as we’ll ever get to writing a New Order track in the Play Once-a-Month at the Hacienda to save the club era. Maybe that era of the club. I don’t know, I never went sooooo.
Wear Me Down: We love meeting folks, but sometimes you just got to cut it at, “nice to meet you!” and keep it at that. No more punishing situations in 2024 and beyond! Also, being nice is overrated, gimme kindness!
Spring Exit: All we hear about is the Bay getting roughed up. But have you ever looked out on a nice day standing at Vallejo and Taylor in SF? Or chilled by the Lakeside Park Garden Center at Lake Merritt with some to-go?