What I Am Listening to: The Eyelids

The Eyelids are one of my favorite bands of recent years. I am not sure where I first heard them, perhaps on streaming, but it’s also possible I read about them first and decided to check them out. Reading about the band is impressive given they are a bit of a indie rock supergroup. In many ways, the majority of that is the hefty resume of drummer John Moen. Like Prarie Prince or Jim Keltner, Moen has played with many bands. His resume includes not only being the drummer for The Decemberists, but also Black Prairie, Robert Pollard’s project Boston Spaceships, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Heatmiser, Elliott Smith, the Minus Five and most notably the Dharma Bums. 

That Portland band always felt like an undiscovered gem. One of those Frontier Records label bands that deserved a bigger audience. Like so many of those legendary unheralded bands, Dharma Bums has lore too- the band whose concert was where Kurdt and Courtney met. Along with Moen, the other principal member is Chris Slusarenko. Chris played bass for Guided by Voices for a time, and appears on 2004s Half Smiles of the Decomposed. Slusarenko - also a member of Boston Spaceships- fronts the band. Jim Talstra on bass also comes from Dharma Bums, Jonathan Drews played guitar for the afore mentioned Boston Spaceships, and Victor Krummenacher adds another list of indie greats to the collective resume - founding and long time member of Camper Van Beethoven and Monks of Doom as well as associated artists of that band like Eugene Van Chadbourne and Cracker. 

They have been incredibly prolific even if they don’t seem to have gotten the attention they deserve. I believe they have released six albums in the last 10 years but their Allmusic profile is frustratingly incomplete. 2024’s No Jigsaw was their third album (plus an EP and a live album) in four years. It was also a double album with the second half being covers. Some famous - “Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode, “Good Times Roll” by The Cars “Seven Seas” by Echo and the Bunnymen. Some more obscure like songs by Jean Paul Satre Experience, Big Dipper and the Straitjacket Fits. Mojo gave it four stars and REM and Big Star comparisons. 2017’s “or” may be their master work. 

Produced by Peter Buck, it truly is a great “lost album” for fans of college rock or the great power pop bands of the 70s, 80s and 90s. Jay Gonzalez of Drive By Truckers plays piano and organ, and Jonathan Segel of Camper Van Beethoven also guests. Although social media is full of negativity, I will likely remember for awhile that I turned someone on to this band who hadn’t heard them, and that is an incredibly cool thing. Maybe you will be next.