2016's Stake My Claim was the first
Big Eyes album to feature two guitar players, and it changed the band's direction. Kait Eldridge's group had a sound that was tough-as-nails garage punk with a nasty edge and a nice line in hooky tunes. Her guitar playing was whip-smart and left a mark. With the addition of Paul Ridenour on guitar, the duo began to explore the possibilities of having two guitars trading punches and ending up in a tangled heap. The album was a fine start down the road to rock & roll Valhalla; on 2019's
Streets of the Lost, they grab the rock & roll horns with both hands and wrestle them to the ground. The twin guitar attack of Eldridge and Ridenour reaches its full potential here on tracks that capture the low-slung heroics of
Thin Lizzy, the new rhythm section of bassist Jeff Ridenour and drummer Scott McPherson is rock solid and punchy as hell, and Eldridge's songs have a newfound bite behind the catchy melodies. Like many people, she seems to be struggling with her place in the world and what it means to be alive in the late 2010s. The oft-weighty subject matter gives the songs a deeper impact while not being so heavy as to impede the intense levels of rocking the songs achieve. Some of the tracks rock like a hurricane (the ripping "Hourglass" or the stomping "Try Hard Kiss Ass"); some of them strut like the tough kids ("At the Top" or "Nearly Got Away"); and a few have some punk left in their DNA like the riff-heavy "Young, Dumb and Bored," which draws blood like a prime
Muffs banger. No matter the type of rocking, Eldridge proves herself a master of it. She and Paul Ridenour provide a master class in dual guitar riffing and soloing, her tough and tender vocals are pure
Joan Jett perfection, and the whole thing is produced with a lean, mean edge that jabs like a heavyweight looking for a title shot. Other bands doing similar things with AOR and hard rock may get more press or hype than
Big Eyes, but
Streets of the Lost shows that this band deserves to be in the conversation when kick-ass, non-ridiculous rock & roll bands of 2019 are discussed. ~ Tim Sendra