Do Tombstones In Their Eyes know how to throw a party or what? Following up on 2021’s fuzzed out full-length Looking For A Light (With EP A Higher Place arriving in April of 2022), TITE has doubled down on the murky shoegaziness of it all to create a record that’s one downtrodden ditty after another on Sea Of Sorrow.
“Trapped” enters your earholes in a flurry of throbbing noise right away with guitarist/vocalist John Treanor’s hypnotic vocals meshing effortlessly with the melancholy mayhem to form a pinnacle of perfect pout music. Following that is “The Bitter Ones” which is pretty divine with a repeated refrain from Treanor delivered in a monotone behind a haze while “Life” is all ’70’s Psychedelic Groove with the way Stephen Striegel’s drums collide with both the bass and guitar lines. Looking for some feel good moments? Well, look no further than “Dead Inside” or “Numb” for all those warm fuzzy feeling brought to sonic life. Oh, wait. On second thought, maybe this isn’t the place for such feels. But “Numb” and “Dead Inside” still rule with the former brimming with a refined beauty despite the heavy content and the latter offering some different sounds, a little twang, and Treanor’s haunting whispered vox smack dab in the middle of it all.
Elsewhere on Sea Of Sorrow, “Heart” strips away all the pronounced pretense of the amplified guitars to focus on Treanor’s voice as “Hey Man” comes in hot next with a scorching chorus-driven track that’s, dare we say, relatively happy-sounding??? “Hope” springs eternal on Sea Of Sorrow with this song that’s part glorious hymnal and part intimate Alt-Rawk classic until eventually “Bride” concludes Sea Of Sorrow in a bulky six minute Fuzz Rawk magnum opus culminating with a gorgeous piano outro.
Sea Of Sorrow arrives on May 16th through Kitten Robot Records. For all the new album info, including pre-save links and more, head here. And for the latest from Tombstones In Their Eyes, follow the trail of socials by heading here, here, or here.