8 Eyed Spy

• Artist: Lydia Lunch/8 Eyed Spy
• Rating:
• Release Date: September 02, 1997
• Genre: Rock

Review

Another chunk of Atavistic's long-overdue retrospective of Lydia Lunch's highly influential early work, 8 Eyed Spy collects the entire recorded output of Lunch's second band. A far more overtly "musical" group than Teenage Jesus & the Jerks (which also featured Lunch and Jim Sclavunos, who switched from bass to drums for the new band), 8 Eyed Spy were no less confrontational. A modicum of actual talent and a newfound appreciation for musical forms that predate 1977 inform 8 Eyed Spy's slightly less chaotic music, making this compilation sort of the downtown post-punk equivalent to Trout Mask Replica. Indeed, the album kicks off with a peculiarly effective deconstruction of Captain Beefheart's early single "Diddy Wah Diddy," joining tracks by the Strangeloves and Creedence Clearwater Revival alongside the powerful originals led by Lunch's harsh but urgent vocals and Pat Irwin's honk-blat-phwee saxophone. The live half of the album suffers from the same kind of beyond-lo-fi sound issues as Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, but this is in all other ways a tremendous step up. Unfortunately, 8 Eyed Spy broke up after barely a year when bassist George Scott died, and they were never able to fulfill the promise of these early recordings. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Diddy Wah Diddy	Willie Dixon, Bo Diddley	Lydia Lunch	(2:19)
Lazy in Love		Lydia Lunch	(2:57)
Love Split		Lydia Lunch	(2:10)
Dead Me You B Side		Lydia Lunch	(3:39)
Swamp		Lydia Lunch	(:57)
Run Through the Jungle	John Fogerty	Lydia Lunch	(5:26)
Motor Oil Shanty	Lydia Lunch	Lydia Lunch	(4:29)
You Twist I Shout		Lydia Lunch	(2:31)
Looking for Someone		Lydia Lunch	(2:39)
Lightning's Girl	Lee Hazlewood	Lydia Lunch	(3:07)
Innocence		Lydia Lunch	(1:24)
Boy Meets Girl		Lydia Lunch	(1:57)
2 Square		Lydia Lunch	(2:36)
I Want Candy	Bob Feldman, Richard Gottehrer, B. Russell, Gerald Goldstein	Lydia Lunch	(2:04)
Ran Away Dark		Lydia Lunch	(1:51)

Credits

8 Eyed Spy (Main Performer), 8 Eyed Spy (Performer), Lydia Lunch (Vocals), Lydia Lunch (Main Performer), Lydia Lunch (?), Pat Irwin (?), Jim Sclavunos (Percussion), Jim Sclavunos (Drums), Michael Paumgardhen (?), Neville Brody (Design), Neville Brody (Illustrations), Tom Bessoir (Photography)