:: Lecherous Gaze - Lecherous Gaze

Lecherous Gaze

After eight years together and, with numerous releases to their name, Oakland based metal/punk rock outfit Annihilation Time decided to call it a day in late 2009. Following the demise of Annihilation Time, guitarist Graham Clise, bassist Chris Grande and drummer Noel Sullivan made the decision to continue making music together and, after finding a new front man in Lakis Panagiotopulos, the four piece act formed Lecherous Gaze. Having spent most of 2010 writing songs and working on their sound, Lecherous Gaze are finally ready to release their debut self-titled effort through Tee Pee Records. On the opening track ‘Phaze’, the band’s collective influences are evident, with the music taking its cues from classic ‘70’s rock, with a slight punk edge being produced on the vocal front. Although a solid track through and through, the song lacks something to give it a real punch. The issues of the former track flow through to the follow up effort ‘Sold’. Again, the band has the chops, but there’s something lacking to make the song really stand out. But all that changes when the band launch into the second half of the EP - starting with ‘Graveyard’. Perhaps it’s the slower tempo, or the fact that Panagiotopulos injects a bit more variation into his voice - either way, ‘Graveyard’ has that special something the others don’t, and stands out for that very reason. Finishing up the EP is ‘R’ N R’ Lust’, which is again another winner with its energetic take on high energy MC5-like classic rock and roll sound. Given the band’s former history, there was always going to be a bit of anticipation surrounding anything Lecherous Gaze was going to record. Unfortunately, the band’s debut effort is a bit of a letdown, even if it does have a couple of stunners. It’s early days for Lecherous Gaze, and I’m not about to write them off completely at this early stage of their new venture. But what I will say is that I hope that when they get around to releasing a full-length effort, it will at least be a lot stronger sounding effort compared to solid fillers.