Eyes Caught Fire

Eyes Caught Fire percussionist Joel Brown's bass drum head reads: "Keep Hope Alive." For any other band, that might come off as a cheap slogan. But from this Colorado Springs quintet, it's anything but. The act's collective voice contains a dark, lustrous majesty that whispers like the specter of buried...

By Tom Murphy

March 13, 2008

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Eyes Caught Fire percussionist Joel Brown's bass drum head reads: "Keep Hope Alive." For any other band, that might come off as a cheap slogan. But from this Colorado Springs quintet, it's anything but. The act's collective voice contains a dark, lustrous majesty that whispers like the specter of buried dreams beckoning to be let loose. Delivering the kind of catharsis that heals as much as it invigorates, Eyes Caught Fire's sound simultaneously conjures the cool, soothing atmospheres of trip-hop with a Cocteau Twins-like loveliness of tone and the raw emotionalism of Sigur Rós's headiest moments. Like only a handful of artists before, Eyes Caught Fire (due at Old Curtis Street Bar this Saturday, March 15) proves that it's possible to write the most beautifully melancholic music imaginable without sounding maudlin and melodramatic. With music clearly stemming more from the heart rather than the head, this group is sure to spark the imagination.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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