Radar Eyes at Empty Bottle | Concert preview

Like Derrick Rose asking aloud before the 2010 season why couldn’t he be the MVP, perhaps it will one day seem prescient that in an interview last year with the local zine Reglar Wiglar, Radar Eyes wondered why they couldn’t be musical guests on Saturday Night Live. They certainly couldn’t be worse than Lana Del Rey. Judging by their latest recordings, there aren’t a lot of local bands out there who can better the garage-dwellers.

On their self-titled new LP for HoZac Records, Radar Eyes top their great single and cassette releases by crafting poppy psych that cuts like a laser light show through a cannabis-smoke-filled room.

This is low-frills, high-impact guitar rock that achieves seductive catchiness without excess polish or contrived hooks. Onstage the band channels a youthful energy that makes them seem like teenagers excited to finally score their first real gig.

Though this is the HoZac band that most simulates a hazy, crazy ’60s sound, thankfully the quartet refrains from donning retro duds or sporting flower-power haircuts. And despite the group’s name possibly coming from a Tangerine Dream song, there’s nary a hint of Teutonic ambient preciousness here. Everything hits hard, even the midtempo atmospheric workouts. Radar Eyes is one of the most promising bands in town because they sublimely achieve the oxymoronic—bare-bones excess.