An intriguing debut
Blue Eyed Shark has swum the oceans with Johnny Cash and dined with Radiohead, now with his band, this intriguing musical marine-dweller has produced his first EP ‘Aun Aprendo (I’m Still Learning)’. It’s clearly the work of an intelligent songwriter who has his finger on the musical pulse and is astute enough to put together a very appealing CD with vinyl effect, as well as a biography that’s mysterious yet endearing.
The music itself is polished and attracts your attention, but it also quite hard to pin down. Opener ‘Generation’ is trance-like electro pop tune with a rapped chorus, pulsing beats and neat keyboard backing. Slick and thoroughly modern, perhaps this melodramatic electro with catchy vocal harmonies is the sound of 2010. ‘Sleep Next To Me’ is another kettle of fish entirely; it’s a soft, touching love song with warm and tender piano backing. There’s more than a hint of lullaby in the sweet vocal line which simply sparkles.
‘Goodbye My Little Friend’ is a bright, bittersweet pop tune that’s full of twee joy and a trippy electro rhythm that bounces merrily along, buoying your spirits. Finally ‘Rain’ brings the EP to a close with a catchy sing-a-long melody that implores the sky to “rain on everybody” with jaunty glee that soon gives way to lively harmonies, although it’s probably the most generic and least outstanding tune on this album.
Blue Eyed Shark Experiment have displayed an impressive range of sounds on this EP and I’d certainly like to hear more, although some of their offerings definitely have far more appeal than others. If the point of an EP is to show what you’re made of while continuing to develop, then this lot have got it bang on with at least 75% of the record really impressing, while the rest leaves them space for refinement and to come back bigger and stronger sharks.