THE OCTOPUS PROJECT
The House of Apples and Eyeballs (Grave Face)
Reviewed by Erick Mertz

---

Listening to The House of Apples and Eyeballs, by a collaboration called The Octopus Project makes me wish I still had an apartment with annoyingly lame neighbors so I could crank this up as loud as my stereo will go and accomplish a twofold mission: 1.) an attempt to make them cooler, and 2.) drive them nuts with the frenetic noise while trying. Hell, this record is so good it makes me wish I still had an apartment, a place where I could draw attention to myself with great records like this one, garnering that all too difficult "hallway esteem", a process which consists of nameless people slowing down near my door, saying, "wow, listen to what that guy is into!"

The Octopus Project is the clumsily poetic moniker given to the full length collaboration between two bands -- you guessed it, The Octopus Project and Black Moth Super Rainbow. Not knowing hide nor hair of either going into my review of this record, I was amazed at the sound quality, an almost vinyl quality break beat laid down under interesting loops and samples. This record really sounds like a careful recording alternately hissing and seething, using Asian movie hooks and the tick-tock of ancient video games.

I don't know how best to characterize the collisions happening here, but again, it's like The Arcade Fire meets Mogwai (boy, I've been hearing a lot of their influence lately). Both bands claim to be in the studio for individual recording projects, which is great. I don't know what will come of it, better than this however. Maybe they'll inspire me to get that elusive, cachet grabbing apartment.

The Octopus Project has eight, well toned arms, each able to grab hold of your soul.

© 2007 - Erick Mertz