six eye columbia

S.F.-based melancholic rock band Six Eye Columbia orbits around songwriter Josh Pollock, who's garnered quite a pedigree in recent years. A current member of enduring prog co-op Gong, Pollock has played with Japanese luminaries Acid Mothers Temple and Ruins, moonlighted with Pansy Division and punk patriarch Gary Floyd, and starred in a musical about song-poem meister Rodd Keith. Obviously, he is a gifted musician, but 6EC is his compositional showcase. Judy at Carnegie Hall -- the band's follow-up to 2001's A Million Six -- refines that album's well-crafted indie mélange. Judy sports a mere eight tracks, but with multipart songs like "New Age Teen" clocking in around 10 minutes, these pop epics add up to a satisfyingly complete album. That one of the tracks on Judy is titled "Teenage Fanclub and You" and parallels that Scottish band's work speaks volumes; in addition to Fanclub, Six Eye Columbia channels Big Star, Guided by Voices, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, and Red House Painters (whose bassist, Jerry Vessel, also plays in Six Eye). Achingly beautiful and musically kaleidoscopic, Judy at Carnegie Hall is a subtly infectious, densely layered, and brilliantly well-produced piece of work. - SF Weekly (by Mike Rowell)

“Strong songwriting dominates this debut release...Forlorn and depressing in a good way.” - Aquarius Records, SF, June 2002

“Six Eye Columbia's A Million Six was one of the best albums to come out of San Francisco, or just about anywhere else for that matter, in 2001…There are no self-conscious rip-offs or ironic posturing. Ultimately, Six Eye Columbia sounds like itself…There is real heart and depth to the music…The band pulls off the remarkable trick of crafting songs with odd dissonances and sharp angles that are nonetheless catchy, accessible and memorable.” - William Friar, San Francisco Examiner, April 19, 2002

“Guided by Voices and The Flaming Lips sit down to lunch with Elvis Costello as their waiter." East Bay Express, November 2001 “[A Million Six is] a soulful, sophisticated, and sincere rock-and-roll album that captures the silliness, sadness, and energy of your last roller coaster relationship.” - Amoeba Records, Best of, 2001

If radio sounded like this one might be tempted to listen all the
time. Six Eye's sophomore effort (or third if you count their bang-up,
vinyl-only covers set Frowny Frown) is jam-packed with chiming pop
chops and sublime, unexpected digressions. Some of the underlying
infrastructure comes from Guided By Voices and Pavement, but this holds
its own against those '90s stalwarts' best work. Leader Josh Pollock is
every bit the angular guitar wrangler as Stephen Malkmus or Robert
Pollard, and a damn sight more compelling as a vocalist - maybe because
his elegantly bruised slow ones like "She's Crying Diamonds" and "When
Trains Ache" moan with the sincerity of vintage Zombies singles. With
several cuts clocking in near the 10-minute mark you might fear aimless
rambling but one never feels the length because the flow is so natural,
so fittingly full, the journey is as rewarding as the chorus-hook
sections. The manic charge that begins "New Age Teen" never hints at
the deep sigh in the tail section but once you hear the beautiful
transformation you'll understand how well they hang together. This
happens a lot on Judy, where the compositional grace smacks you and
leaves you smiling and impressed. Six Eye incorporate a lot of
influences, contemporary and further back, including Teenage Fanclub
(who get a nice nod here), Elliott Smith (though far less tormented)
and '70s John Cale (who Pollock recently played guitar for at London's
Meltdown Festival). They do so without really copying anyone. It's
their nifty arrangements, carefully chosen instrumental colors and a
fully formed pop sensibility that refuses homogenization. This is
distingue post-modern rock at its finest.  

***Dennis Cook, Jambase.com - Jambase.com