Review THE 69 EYES ‘Drive’ – EP – Markus' Heavy Music Blog

Finland’s goth’n’rollers The 69 Eyes have been in business for more than 30 years now and man, time flies. The band debuted in 1999 with the ‘Wasting the Dawn’ album, which marked the beginning of an impressive career.

The last studio album was released three years ago and now it was time to please fans with new material. It didn’t result in a whole album, but in an EP with three new songs. The fourth track is a live version of ‘Two Horns Up’. The original version is from the ‘West End’ album and has its renaissance on this release.
More interesting, however, are the three new songs, which put the strength of The 69 Eyes sound in perspective.

A key element of the sound of the Finns is certainly the raspy and dark voice of frontman Jyrki 69. His expressive singing is what has set the band apart from many other groups and still makes it a special element.

Photo: Marek Sabogal

The opener ‘Drive’ reflects this in an irresistible manner. The 69 Eyes rock the hell out and continue to embrace the beauty of the night. It’s hard to imagine the band in the glaring sunlight. The 69 Eyes are creatures of the night or in other words, they are the Helsinki Vampires.

We continue with ‘Call Me Snake’, a stomping rocker, followed by ‘California’. The latter song is like a dark scarf, which wraps the vibrant colors of California in a gray veil. And that the Finns have a very good sense for good melodies is revealed not only on ‘California ‘.

I listened to the EP a few times and I must say that from time to time I had to think of Billy Idol in his heyday. Somehow it’s a similar vibe that runs through the songs, especially on the title track, which doesn’t detract from the smoothness of this release.

Overall, ‘Drive’ is a well done EP from the five guys from the far north. The 69 Eyes will delight their fans with the new songs and in general it can be said that it is the heat of the night that fascinates and makes the listener sweat.