I’ve been fanboy about Chris Slusarenko and his various bands since back when I lived in Portland in the 90’s. Between the loud hooky sonic blast of Sprinkler, the sublime intensity of Svelt, or his all-star Devo project Spud Boys, the man seemed to have his finger on the pulse of everything that was kick-ass about the Puddletown music scene back at the turn of the millennium. Then, he ended up in the fantastic first “final” line up of Guided By Voices as well as the wicked Boston Spaceships, not to mention some other Pollard projects from the era. AND in the same breath, I also remember John Moen quite well from those days, especially back when he was proverbially joined-at-the-rhythm-section-hip to Jim Talstra in so many great bands including the mythic Dharma Bums, before finding his famous feet as one of The Decemberists.

Together Chris and John are the core creative team in Eyelids, a Portland supergroup of sorts making beautiful noise since 2014. Talstra stepped out post Covid, with journeyman bassist Victor Krummenacher, he of Camper Van Beethoven and Monks of Doom fame, now in to round out a new lineup. Eyelids 4th full length, A Colossal Waste of Light, is a power-pop powerhouse collection of jangly guitar genius coupled with well-crafted rock workouts, melodic sensibilities, and polished sound spilling out like archetypes scattered in the air. Every single song here is memorable, engaging, and progressively succinct. I believe that I’ve listened to it about 25 times now and still get excited when Crawling Off Your Pages starts again; the sure sign of a classic that I continue to love more with each play. And it’s produced by the great Peter Buck, someone who’s well versed in making classics, and who’s also been joining the band on quite a few dates of their recent tour in 2023.

I am singling out my absolute favorite song on the record, They Said So, not only for it’s exquisite driving groove, harmonious verses, and hypnotic chorus but also for it’s REM, XTC, Shoes, Badfinger, Greys, Big Star feeeeel. This song could have come out in 1972 and would have instantly been a number one smash. And that’s why I fucking love this brand of Power Pop and have since Cheap Trick swept the neighborhood! They Said So is my favorite song in both Chris’ or John’s ever evolving canons, at least until they write another. And you know they will!

Stay turned on to these guys and watch for them in your city…

https://musicofeyelids.bandcamp.com/album/a-colossal-waste-of-light

https://www.facebook.com/musicofeyelids