Any surviving punk band and its members have to feel honored in being part of the Dangerhouse roster, the short-lived Los Angeles label responsible for capturing the first-wave West Coast punk scene. The Avengers, The Dils, and Bags can attest to that. Los Angeles’ Eyes were let in thanks to labelheads David Brown and Pat “Rand” Garrett both of Black Randy & The Metrosquad, whose Blackettes also included important female key players Exene Cervenka (X), Alice Bag (Bags), Lorna Doom (Germs), and Belinda Carlisle and Jane Wiedlin (both of The Go-Gos). It’s a given Eyes become part of both the Dangerhouse and first-wave California punk legacy. The title track and anti-drug p.s.a. TAQN (”Take A Quaalude Now”) speaks for the entire e.p. in terms of leisurely power-pop structure and energy. There’s no time to rest when Joe Ramirez’s sqeaky vocals and David Brown’s organ (so reminiscent of another Los Angeles punk band The Screamers, whom never released a formal album ever) keep it moving with no breather. You’ll feel that even more on “Disneyland”. Supposedly Ramirez also has a fascination with bees, too? There’s “Research Bee” and “Go-Go Bee”, which is totally worth it to hear him sing the chorus in a funny manner. TAQN has it all, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise or they’re wrong.
Formerly a 7″ released as “TAQN” and “Topological Lies”, Artifix and Dangerhouse joined forces to re-issue this in 2009 as an expanded 10″ with compilation tracks “Ewinetok” and “Disneyland”, and the previously-unreleased “Research Bee” and “Go-Go Bee”, unmixed. TAQN’s track sequence is also the exact same from Eyes’ 2″ master tape.
