Its adventurous spirit is culpable for its moderate highs and lows alike. "Perfect Fit" is also emblematic of the album's shaky coherence- when there is both peppy indie-rock and ponderous pseudo-reggae, how can the center hold? As a whole, Eats Darkness feels haphazard in a way that shades into self-indulgence.
![power of darkness album power of darkness album](https://dark-hidden.com/distro/img/p/4/9/49-thickbox_default.jpg)
Didn't anyone notice that he was experimenting with excessive vocal reverb and stabby guitar delay? Might his bandmates have caught him browsing Peter Tosh comps at the record store and intervened? Where were the parents in all of this? I can't help but think more could've been done. Either way, indie-reggae doesn't look good on anyone. Whiteman must have kept it to himself, or maybe he just has unshakable shoulders. There comes a moment of truth in every indie rocker's life when he thinks, "Gee, I should try my hand at a sort of dub reggae song." Ideally, he shares this thought with a trusted friend who shakes him by the shoulders until he relents. They recreate the insane rapper's culture-as-playground sensibility without tapping into his eerie, subtle logic, and while they give the record what passes for a vague conceptual center- revolutionary, society-in-decline stuff that is borne out in lyrics derisively peppered with the names of corporations- they also convey a sense of unappealing sanctimony while obscuring the album's through-line.Īnd then there's "Perfect Fit". Nearly a third of the album's 13 tracks are given over to second-rate DOOM-style sample collages, using sound effects and the voices of artists such as Stan Brakhage and Kenneth Patchen in rather facile ways. The title song pairs a weak-tea IDM track with thin-toned electric guitar noodling to zero effect. When Whiteman ventures further afield in his songwriting, the results range from tepid to occasionally execrable. "Xerses" gets a long way on its lyrical bassline alone.
![power of darkness album power of darkness album](https://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0002/075/MI0002075000.jpg)
"Soul Unwind" is another winner, its titular refrain unfurling like a victory banner above cascading guitars and tweaky studio embellishments. It zips right along on a crafty riff filled with decorative hitches and fillips. "Eazy Speaks" is a great example of Whiteman packing salient details into a brisk, approachable framework. It's admirable how his best songs outstrip his resources by sheer diligence plenty of musicians have done less with more. He has an unremarkable voice and a sketchy track record when it comes to memorable melody, but he also has a real knack for tooling terrific parts. It works when Whiteman sticks to his indie-rock comfort zone.