Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs

Alkaline Trio temper napalm guitars with a keen sense of melody, placed front and centre on Blood, Hair, And Eyeballs by Hot For Preacher's dark, dramatic opening flourish, and continued with impressive consistency throughout its 11 tracks. [Apr 24, p.76]

More than just a bright spot in their career, Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs is a beacon of romantic punk defiance.

It's loud, raucous and the kind of magic that will kick your doors down, even if you didn't want it to. A collection of sing-alongs and shout-along anthems that will devour you -- blood, hair, eyeballs, and everything else.

Ignore the anodyne song-titles like Versions Of You, Bad Time and Scars. Sonically, we’re right back into the gravel of early-2000s classic From Here To Infirmary and Good Mourning. Guitars slice, grate and gouge like murder weapons. Matt and Dan Andriano’s vocals are loaded with more wry, world-weary bittersweetness than they have been in years.

For a band at this stage in their career, Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs is a surprisingly solid return. Die-hard fans will love it regardless, but if you haven’t checked in with AK3 for a while – now's the time. They still have their spark.

The band’s signature sound is obviously intact on Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs, but the songs are rendered with such immediacy and melodic intensity that the new wrinkles are amplified and any sameness rendered meaningless.