World Wide Spies

Under A Bloodshot Eye:
An Evening with Snakes and Spies
Viper Room - 3.12.07 - West Hollywood, CA
Review by Joey Cortez, Mish Mash Magazine

"Call it crazy (or poor planning) to throw an unofficial album release party on an atypical night for such an activity in a city that is known for elevating the outside to the status quo, but it was on a Monday night in Hollywood that World Wide Spies proved such a move to be pure bravura."

"The streets were quiet and the night still down the Sunset Strip. Music filled the cramped corridors that lead to the Viper Room's main stage with Oasis' "Lyla" setting the score. The atmosphere in the Viper was unpretentious: stripped of the formalities of much larger venues and concerts and providing an almost too-intimate setting for a rock show. The occasion was Indie 103.1's Check One Two showcase of local bands and ne'er-do-wells. As is often the case with shows of this ilk, the intent is almost always noble, with the line-up, more often than not, lacking. There is also an inherent risk in billing a trio or quartet of bands on one card and that is that one band inevitably overpowers the others and unfortunately for the other bands, this night belonged to World Wide Spies."

To read the full article click the link: http://mishmashmagazine.com/

- Mish Mash Magazine.com

Post-Punk.com
Reviewed by - Joshua Pfeiffer

Some of you may recall my review of the World Wide Spies EP "A Call to Action" a while back. Well the Los Angeles based New Wave/Post-Punk revivalists are back in action. This time with a full length release. And what a great release it is. Virtually every song has hooks aplenty, and catchy, melodic choruses. The same influences I cited in the previous review still ring true, but fortunately this full length is a step forward and not back in terms of quality.

"Three Cheers" is a nice catchy opening song (which is preceeded by a short instrumental). Their is still plenty of U2, Chameleons, etc. in their sound, but even more apparent is the bass playing, which is very similar in style to Derek Forbes from Simple Minds, and Duran Duran's John Taylor. This can be heard most clearly on the next track "Time Will Tell". "Images of Black and White" follows with a nice mellow laid back sound, that culminates during the call and response chorus sections. The next track "Better Friend Then a Lover" bears more than a passing resemblance to Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" (whether or not this was intentional, I don't know? But honestly I think it is a much better track than the Franz song). "Philosphy" is probably my favorite track on the album, and it has all of the elements that the best World Wide Spies songs have. Once again those shimmery guitar shreds take center stage, and they just beg me to drop the early U2 comparisons again. "Heart" is another more mid-tempo song that has a calm and cool progression. It adds a pretty unique style to an already solid album. Finally closing out the original material is "What Are We Fighting For?", which is once again another really good and poppy song that reminds me a bit of their older song "Mystery" (But I have to ask... why the back up singers toward the end?). Closing out the album JFK has chosen to cover the old stand by Joy Division classic "Love Will Tear Us Apart".

Now let me just say right now that it takes a hell of a lot for me to be impressed by a cover of Joy Division, and I think musically these guys nailed it. However during the third verse and chorus I think JFK could have kept the vox more restrained like the earlier sections of the song. Maybe it's the added vocal inflections, but something threw me off toward the end of the song.

So yeah, I think the review gives you my overall impression of the album. In other words it kicks a lot of ass, and everyone reading this should drop by their profile and check it out! Oh and make sure to listen to our preview of Philosophy in the music player too!

Records of Reference:

U2 - Boy
Simple Minds - Sons and Fascination
Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
Duran Duran - Duran Duran
The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge
- Post-Punk.com