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69 Eyes - Motor City Resurrection |
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| These Finnish shotgun bastards were already having their MOTOR CITY RESURRECTION when the dorky richkids garage nerds of today were still listening to Juliana Hatfield and Evan Dando records, which even somehow makes some kinda bizarre sense, seein's how I just read that THE MC5's surviving members are about to tour, accompanied by a revolving cast of celebrity dilettantes, including EVAN DANDO. The 69 Eyes were one of the definitive FLASH METAL rockgroups of '94, for sure. Back then, there wasn't a million glam rock compilations and greasy kid stuff, flash-punk websites on-line. In America, there was like, the established corporate hair-merchant $cene out west, "Metal Edge" and "Headbangers Ball", and a handful of tiny magazines, fostering a real rock underground, including "Black To Comm", "Flipside", Jeff Dahl's "SONIC IGUANA",which |
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kinda grew
out of his ULTRA-UNDER mail-order catalogs and "TRASH ON DEMAND"
compilations, "Whiskey For Breakfast" fanzine, and "Ready to Snap", the
Shock Rockin' FLASH METAL cable access debacle, "WEIRD CITY", and
Pandora
Peroxide illustrator, the legendary, Ray Zell's articles about obscure
Brit Rock Flash Metallers like KILL CITY DRAGONS and GUNFIRE DANCE, y'know, but
that was about it, as far as a real tangible Flash Metal Movement went,
outside of little pockets here and there, where various insurgent,
underdog bands were turning their local music scene audiences on to their
old Dolls records and planning to savagely help overthrow both the
Poison
Poseurs and the goatee wearing former Prep School hockey players of Post-Soundgarden
Grunge. ______________________________________________________________________________________ |
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THE 69 EYES came straight outta Finland with both guns, and roses,
blazing, like drunken gunslingers on roller skates, like Mardi Gras Hells
Angels, with a huge, sound, everything on 11, big, full, and heavy. Songs
like "Barbarella", "Juicy Miss Lucy", "Too Itching For Action", and "Gimmie
Some Skin", had all the desperate late night longing of SMACK and the
cocksure swagger of AXL ROSE or "Oriental Beat" era
Hanoi Rocks! 69 EYES
were Fun. 69 EYES singer, JYRKI, was a perfect rockstar. They all were. All us guys envied their Finnish good looks, all our tattooed chicks asked, "Who are THESE guys?", when they saw all their promotional swag, or album covers, that arrived in big envelopes from Finland, every so often. |
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_______________________________________________________________________________________ In 1996, 69 Eyes heat-throb, Jyrki and Claude, the brilliant singer of our beloved Flash Metal ICONS, Smack, recorded the elusive album, "Fellow Reptiles". While other 69'ers, Jussi69 and Archzie, participated in Andy McCoy and Pete Malmi`s revamped project - Briard, kinda confirming their membership amidst Finnish Flash Metal's rock elite.
If the 69 EYES recorded this very
same album right now, the SLEAZEGRINDER would personally (provided he could somehow wrangle the
funds,) put it out for 'em. These guys were like the Babylon Bombs of the
Sub-Pop Era. Pure Sleaze. Filthy, dumb, bad ass fun, raw, energetic,
snotty, cocky, loud, belligerant, trashy FLASH METAL. Who could ask for
more? Definitely one of our very favorite bands from that moment- 69 Eyes,
Coma-Tones, Gunfire Dance, and The Mummies!!! |
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| Only now, he's been writing songs about fucking goth girls in Pere Lachaisse, and gothic tributes to the fallen CROW-martyr, Brandon Lee, for so long that I kinda doubt we'll see another FLASH METAL RESURRECTION from the 69 Eyes, but who knows, I mean, maybe they'll play some Finnish summer festival this year with a reconstituted Hanoi Rocks, and HIM, and shit, and Jyrki'll realize that Scott Weiland from Velvet Revolver just ain't gonna cut it, we need some real deal PERFECT FLASH METAL ROCKSTARS now more than ever, and shed his kingly lizard skin again: I know... it's only rock'nroll, but I like it. |
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Until that fateful blood-shot moon-lit night arrives, instead of being the
PERFECT FLASH METAL ROCKSTARS, they're the perfect pin-up boys for the
gothic-industrial-darkwave, whatever you wanna call it, crowd. A Nine Inch
Nails/Sisters Of Mercy type of thing, and now, I worry for Jyrki, kinda
like I used to for Johnette Napolitano from Concrete Blonde... cos once
they start reading them Anne Rice vampire novels, I find that I'm never
able to relate to alot of my fave old singers and songwriters again. If
you love the FLASH METAL, this "Motor City Resurrection" is the one to
own. If you're more into the "SUICIDE" aspect of it all, check out some of their other albums, like Paris Kills, Savage Garden, Wasting The Dawn, Or Blessed Be... I'LL TELL YOU THIS, NO ETERNAL REWARD WILL FORGIVE US NOW... http://the69eyes.ru/index_en.html
-Pepsi Sheen still wraps his troubles
in dreams. |
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The first time the 69 Eyes
came across my radar, was the "HIGH TIMES, LOW LIFE" three song
seven inch e.p. from back in '92 or sumpthin. Three adrenalline crazed,
stomping, madman rockers called, "MRS. SLEAZY", "Discipline,
and "Stop Bitching!" I especially dug it, cos even then,Flash
Metal was my middle name, and because I was in one of those
kinda fucked-up rock-related relationships the 69 Eyes were
constantly describing in song at the time, but I think I initially panned
their lyrics in an early review I'd written, for being stupid. I'd
been going deeper into my Nick Cave/Rowland S. Howard/These
Immortal Souls period at the time, and I fucking thought I even wanted
my sleazy motherfucker rock bands to be brooding, dark, little poets, too.
Like Andrew Eldritch and fooking Leonard Cohen all the time,
right? Be careful what you ask for. THE 69 EYES' "MOTOR CITY
RESURRECTION" CD was the one that really got me jazzed about this
band. Talk about yer "Coulda Been Contenders" case-studies. Of all the
bands from that era that wanted so desperately to be Guns 'N' Roses, none coulda come much closer than the 69 EYES.