Caught Ｉn Flux

Eyeless In Gaza, the duo of Martyn Bates and Peter Becker, was behind some of the most distinctive music made in the '80s under the pop umbrella. Bates' angst-powered verse and visceral, raw-throated delivery are tempered by musical settings that seem to have been sketched rather than played. Though Eyeless In Gaza was briefly tamed and incorporated into the dubious "new romantic" movement, the duo's early music burns with a rare fire. It's unpredictable, unconventional, and often unforgettable. Eyeless In Gaza's second album, CAUGHT IN FLUX, is truer to Bates and Becker's original muse than later, poppier efforts. Emphatic organ/guitar melodies and acrobatic, assertively emotional vocals define such EIG classics as "Rose Petal Knot," "Half-Light," "Point You," and the lacerating "Voice from the Tracks." The dreamy "See Red," "Continual," and opener "Sixth Sense," where chimes, piano, and percussion are wreathed by multi-tracked Bates vocals, one heartfelt, the other keening wordlessly, hold the key to EIG's unique but here unrefined blend of improvisation, pop, and poetry. This 1997 reissue appends EYES OF BEAUTIFUL LOSERS, the five-song EP bundled with FLUX's initial vinyl pressing. It's an invaluable addition; each fragile, freely constructed song is more splendid than the last.