For many people, Eyes Adrift are of interest for one reason and one reason only: their bass player, Krist Novoselic used to be a member of Nirvana. But that's to give a somewhat misleading impression of this gutsy new rock outfit, whose real driving force would appear to be Curt Kirkwood, formerly of the much-maligned Meat Puppets. Novoselic was always a rather low-profile character anyway, and he takes lead vocals on only three tracks here, leaving Kirkwood's Arizona twang to carry most of these songs of emotional paralysis and unfulfilled ambitions. Owing fairly obvious debts to both REM and Neil Young, the album makes up in passion what it lacks in subtlety and delivers some solid musical fare without ever really setting the world alight. The band are certainly not above self-indulgence, and there are rather too many prog-rock guitar solos and pointlessly extended feedback for comfort. On the whole though, Eyes Adrift represents a dignified attempt on the part of these distinguished musicians to push their faltering careers forward. Just don't buy this expecting the new Nirvana - because if you do, you're likely to be very disappointed.

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