âIf one is of a certain age (i.e. getting older), there s something instantly recognizable about the sound of All Eyes West that is both comforting and exciting. Like Lightning has Jawbox, Drive Like Jehu, Seaweed, and even some HĂŒsker DĂŒ influences crawling all over it, and there is nothing bad about that. All Eyes West previously worked with J Robbins, so that helps to explain some of the similarities, but while Robbins is not turning knobs on Like Lightning, his impact lingers across the breadth of the experimentalism heard on these works. It is fitting that the record has âAs I Bleedâ and âBruisedâ as musical bookends, as the two tracks are both rugged and abrasive efforts driven by masses of focused rage that bring levels of intellectualism and meticulousness into the turbulence. âToo Aliveâ has an uneasy warmth about it, as the riffs from Jeff Dean are huge, the vocals of bassist Justin Miller are soaring, and the thunderous rolls provided by Ronnie DiCola are rattling; these components collide in a perfect stew of early indie force and sneaky harmonies. The bass throb that drives âInterferenceâ and the ferocious âDeath Waveâ is matched by the slash and burn guitar playing on âDream of a Nightmareâ, as that song that moves with sinewy precision between inert power and brief ethereal pauses. It is obvious that All Eyes West could choose to simply hammer away at listeners if that was their wont, but instead, the guys clearly take great pride in their prowess to juggle varied, jarring time sequences and delightfully off-kilter song structures. All Eyes West play with a style that sounds like it is collapsing upon itself and the listener is trapped in the middle of this imploding racket, for âChasing Lightâ is a bellicose anthem that elbows people out of the way at the bar, while âHolding on a Holdoutâ triumphantly manipulates an alternating loud and soft dynamic range into something that sounds wholly original. I am so angry that I am only hearing of this band now, but I love every aspect of All Eyes West.â