Round Eye’s debut reminded me a lot of Mad Max. As I wrote previously, it’s a movie that happens to you. In similar fashion, Round Eye isn’t something you listen to. It’s a forcefield that radiates through your speakers. It has the trappings of a punk rock album, but it’s so far out there that you can only cling to the familiar pieces and brace yourself until you get through to the other side.
Round Eye bills itself as a punk rock band (with horns) but I don’t think it’s such a stretch to call this a fusion of punk and jazz. When I wasn’t wondering “what the hell is going on?” my most dominant thought was “damn — how did they arrange this?” The often atonal horn arrangements did have a strange, Lovecraftian logic to them that was intermittently punctuated by crunchy, garage-rock punk anthems. If the Ramones hung out with John Coltrane and they both got hopped up on bath salts, they’d probably produce something similar.
I’ve written about Round Eye and their other expat compatriots in China’s DIY punk scene. I’d love to be a fly on those walls because in most other countries, expats just drink and make fun of the locals. I’m glad Round Eye is branching out to the US. I’m not entirely sure what their vision is, but they’re really good at expressing it, and for that alone they deserve as wide an audience as possible. I generally don’t post tour dates but I’m going to this time around, because they’ve traveled a long way to tour stateside:
7/1 – Kalamazoo, MI – House Gig
7/2 – Detroit, MI – Elijah’s
7/3 – Milwaukee, WI – Cocoon Room
7/4 – Chicago, IL – Wally World
7/5 – Peoria, IL – The Rail
7/6 – St. Louis, MO – The Foam
7/9 – Dallas, TX – Three Links
7/10 – Houston, TX – Notsuoh
7/11 – New Orleans, LA – Siberia
7/13 – Mobile, AL – Blind Mule
7/14 – Tallahassee, FL – Midtown Speakeasy
7/15 – Tampa, FL – New World Brewery
7/16 – Cocoa, FL – Boondocks
7/17 – Miami, FL – Churchill’s
7/18 – Orlando, FL – Will’s Pub
7/19 – Jacksonville, FL – Burro Bar
7/20 – Atlanta, GA – C**t Cave
7/21 – Charlotte, NC – Cube NODA
7/22 – Richmond, VA – Gallery 5
7/24 – New York, NY – Hank’s Saloon
7/25 – Philadelphia, PA – Kungfu Necktie
7/26 – Providence, RI – Scurvy Dog
7/29 – Cleveland, OH – Now That’s Class
7/30 – Columbus, OH – Ace of Cups
7/31 – Indianapolis, IN – Melody Inn
