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I bought I'm Wide Awake, etc. after reading all the stellar reviews, and with no clue what a Bright Eyes sounded like. I do like to think tho, that the little weenie Oberst was inspired to name the band while watching the video for Total Eclipse of the Heart, with Bonnie Tyler singing, “turn around, bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart…”. Remember that video, with all those creepy glowing eyes? That was some scary shit right there and likely to lay waste to young Conor’s impressionable mind. I find this an attractive theory, and it comforts me.
I honestly tried to love that album, cuz I paid cash money for it. I gave it a half dozen spins, hoping it would grow out of its amazingly awkward crapness, but it became more painful to listen to with each play. The spousal unit finally snapped and said, “Never ever play that precious, bleating, castrated little sheep in my presence again please, thankyou.” And I was relieved; someone had to say it. I felt blessed when the cd shop paid me three dollars to take it off my hands, for I was sore afraid I would be stuck with it for life. Well, actually, I’d have used it for target practice, I had come to despise it so much.
My conclusion? Someday they will find a cure for Conor Oberst. Until then, many will continue to suffer, despite the best efforts of our doctors and yearly telethons.
Bonus Point: The comment about Vampire Weekend is spot-on if the line is creatively misread as “…disguising it under layers of *felched* African pop”. True dat, since VW are nothing if not the sound of spent creativity being sucked out of the ass end of eighties-era David Byrne and Paul Simon. Talk about your derivatives of derivatives. Damn, what you kids get up to these days.
