Polarized Eyes – Blackout (self-released)
A third release of 2020 from the teenage trio Polarized Eyes with Blackout – written on Blackout Tuesday it’s a snarling punk rage against police brutality.
Artist: Polarized Eyes
Track: Blackout
Label: Self-released
Released: 19 December 2020
Find it: Spotify
While the arrival of 2021 has had little to no effect on consigning the hellscape we’re living through to the past it gives us enough distance to see how 2020 will come to be defined by its global flash points.
The Climate Change driven collapse of the environment, a global pandemic mismanaged or manipulated for political gain, the continuing threats posed by the rise of Populism, and the igniting of the Black Lives Matter movement through the visibility of police brutality. It’s no wonder teenagers Polarized Eyes are angry – we should all be angry – but they focus that anger brilliantly and viscerally on single Blackout.
Written on Blackout Tuesday the band describe the track succinctly as a ‘blast of fury at racism and corruption’ and namecheck the murder of George Floyd by US Police. The info becomes obsolete in light of the lyrics which bluntly make clear the stance, anger growing to match the scale of the challenge, if not the explicitly detailing the background to it, ‘fuck the system / because it won’t change for the better’.
‘fuck the law / fuck the press / fuck the men who should be under arrest’
Politically charged punk like this can often be scrappy and lo-fi – it is the message which matters and not the finesse of the musical vessel after all – but Polarized Eyes smooth off those melodic corners without loosing any edge or the raw power of emotion, intention, and song. Leading with deep bubbling bass, keeping the rhythm behind the verses clipped, and the repeating ‘we run, we run, we run’ line brings the energy, a definite garage rock vibe, and makes this the sort of track which pulls you in to the collective and fires you up for the action we must all take together.
Blackout was the third single of 2020 from Polarized Eyes and is out digitally now.
Find Polarized Eyes: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify
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We took a hiatus at the end of 2020 but put together a list of our Top 40 albums from the year – check it out here.
Sarah Lay
A long-standing music journalist she's also co-founder of independent record label Reckless Yes, an author of novels, and when not messing around with words and music, a digital strategist.
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