EP Review: Eyesore & The Jinx - The Exile Parlour

There’s a lot going on in the world right now, and the unfortunate circumstance we find ourselves in currently can make life frustrating. Waking up and reading the news can make you feel enraged, upset, and frightened and Eyesore & The Jinx embody these feelings perfectly in their debut EP, The Exile Parlour. It’s an empowering and cathartic listen.

The punky, loud, and commanding record oozes with irony as vocalist Josh instructs you to “enjoy yourself” in the opening track ‘Leisure Time’. The record sounds very lo-fi, giving it a sense of integrity and enhancing its rough edges. The angsty vocals of each track can fill you with a sense of rebellion and invite you to share Eyesore’s angsty energy as cymbals crash and the fuzz of the guitar shakes the speaker.

The second track, ‘Nightlife’, has a different feel and paints a satirical image of high heeled girls stumbling down the street, and a man approaching you to ask for a lighter after a typical Friday night blow-out. The song captures the drunken chaos of northern nightlife with humour and attitude, reminding you to not take their harsh sound too seriously and allowing you to enjoy the music and the lively energy of the project.

Listening to this record made me think about why music that evokes an early-punk vibe is so important in times like these. Records like this confront how current affairs can make us feel fed-up but remind us that we can laugh at what’s going on around us as well. The Exile Parlour is light-hearted yet gripping, and offers the promise of a tongue-in-cheek commentary with an edge.

Words: Megan Teece-Round