It took 16 years for Overnight Lows to finally release a full-length. Consisting of 22 minutes of ho-hum standard punk songs, City of Rotten Eyes has little to offer in originality. Within seconds, it’s clear that the record took so long to come together because the band couldn’t be bothered. While there’s something to be said for unassuming punk rock and all its freedom and whatever, Rotten Eyes does so little to deviate from the low tech, adrenaline-fueled songs of yesteryear that for all its rapid fire bluster, it still comes out boring.
The title track opens the record with a distorted riff, really, really fast drums and co-ed vocals. It’s snotty and speedy and has been done plenty of times before. The 11 songs that follow “City of Rotten Eyes” sound about the same. Again, it’s in keeping with the original punk sound, but it means fuck-all. The tracks could run in any order with the same result. And while that was a liberating in the ’70s, it’s dull for those of us who have since progressed from that sound. Rotten Eyes isn’t exactly bad, but there are so many more interesting punk records that came out this year. Why bother?
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