Blue Eyed Shark Experiment - Aun Aprendo (I'm Still Learning)

  by Lisa Torem

published: 27 / 1 / 2010

Label: Sidewalk
Format: CD

intro

Gentle and easy-on-the-ear new EP from Italian-based act, the Blue Eyed Shark Experiment, that nevertheless has an occasional stinging edge

The Blue Eyed Shark Experiment’s debut EP ‘Aun Aprendo’ (I’m Still Learning) brandishes its audience with fatalistic lines like ‘"Grace never came too easy/Sshe drowned at sea." But, the damning quality of this philosophic platitude doesn’t terminate here. In ‘Generation’ the rants build. "You want to destroy yourself that’s alright,/But don’t destroy me," moves the hostility forward. An insidious backing rap underscores the sincere, but throttling message and a crystal-clear keyboard gives way to percussive thrashes. The EP cover features a visual of a gray gilled fish. This creature’s abdomen overflows with nude green, yellow and red swirling bodies. Apparently, this blue eyed marvel is inspired by the Spanish artist Goya, hence the surrealism. But, the absurd cover illustration also reflects this shark’s real life passion. (His claim to fame is that he swam with Johnny Cash.) Rumour has it that he’s currently swimming off the coastline of Mauritius. "Get away from me/I don’t need you/You should know better than to leave me alone" is a memorable, but surprisingly contrarian thought. The piano-driven ‘Sleep Next to Me (I held you in my arms)' is woven with earnest purity. This ballad is tearful. "Little one/Born on a springtime day," is how it is initially executed. "Came from a land far, far away..I’m right by your side" it advances. ‘Goodbye My Little Friend’ begins with a muffled sonar landscape which builds to a cliff-hanging crescendo and then trails off with the melancholic "Goodbye, my little friend/Sometimes things have to end." The racier ‘Rain’ succinctly provides clarity and direction with, "I lost my soul on the side of the road/I left it there on the way to heaven," which ruminates into the exhaustively emotive chorus "Rain, rain on me…" There are undeniably some gentle waves that erupt on this recording’s shores. And it bears mention that the Blue Eyed Shark Experiment doesn’t bite off more than it can chew, but when it bites, this predator draws blood.

Track Listing:-