Living Eyes - Living Large
by Dave Goodwin
published: 14 / 3 / 2015

Label:
Agitated Records
Format: CD
intro
Excellent lo-fi and melodic new wave/punk from once abrasive Australian band, the Living Eyes
The Living Eyes are a bunch of lads from Geelong, Australia consisting of Billy Gardner on guitar who. incidentally, runs the record company that have released this, their second full-length album. Dayle Herbert sings along happily and plays bass at the same time, while Nicholas Hill bashes away on his drum kit. These three are then complimented by Mitch Campleman, who expertly strums away on his guitar and also gives a hand singing. It was all recorded in one foul swoop in just a day and a half in Owen Pengelis' Goliath Professional Recording Studio in Sydney and then mixed by Mickey Young after being finished in the lads' bedrooms, I believe. Now these boys have been hailed as sticking to their vitriolic punk roots, but I have to be honest it is more new wave to me and I love it. They apparently take their sounds from bands like the Easybeats, the Hoodoo Gurus and the Hard Ons, and it is actually tempered down a bit if one listens to their self-titled debut album. It comes in a fold-out card CD cover with collage work on the back of the band themselves. When you put it into your CD player, you are hit with "High Standards" which sets the standards for the rest of the album with its twanging guitars. ‘Dry Spell’ is a calmer affair with echoing vocals and jangling guitars, but fear not, the peace is wonderfully shattered with the intro to ‘On Sale’ and the in-the-same-vein ‘Guilty Pleasures’, the latter hiding some Sex Pistols type vocals. ‘Bad Example’ is a good example of the difference between the first album and this which holds a little more melody, and it is all brought to a crashing close with the Dr Feelgood start to ‘Lighten Up’, the longest track on here at just under four minutes. Bloody marvellous!
Track Listing:-
1 High Standards2 Eat It Up
3 All in Good Time
4 Dry Spell
5 On Sale
6 Guilty Pleasures
7 Low Life
8 Put It Back
9 Bad Example
10 Lighten Up
Band Links:-
https://www.facebook.com/thelivingeyesLabel Links:-
http://agitatedrecords.com/https://en-gb.facebook.com/AGITATED-RECORDS-100542643334300
https://twitter.com/AgitatedRecords
soundcloud
most viewed articles
current edition
John McKay - InterviewRobert Forster - Interview
Cathode Ray - Interview
When Rivers Meet - Waterfront, Norwich, 29/5/2025
Spear Of Destiny - Interview
Fiona Hutchings - Interview
Carl Ewens - David Bowie 1964 to 1982 On Track: Every Album, Every Song
Chris Wade - Interview
Shrag - Huw Stephens Session 08.12.10 and Marc Riley Session 21.03.12
Brian Wilson - Ten Songs That Made Me Love...
most viewed reviews
current edition
Peter Doolan - I Am a Tree Rooted to the Spot and a Snake Moves Around Me,in a CircleVinny Peculiar - Things Too Long Left Unsaid
Garbage - Let All That We Imagine Be The Light
Vultures - Liz Kershaw Session 16.06.88
John McKay - Sixes and #Sevens
Little Simz - Lotus
HAIM - I Quit
Lapsley - I'm a Hurricane, I'm a Woman In Love
Pulp - More
Eddie Chacon - Lay Low
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart