Throughout its playful, freeing, and earnest style, “Gewirr”, the newest EP from Stuttgart post punk / post hardcore band KNIFE EYES have managed to master the balance between harsh energy, tender soundscapes and a singular talent for carving out a soaring melodies. Slated for an August 30th release by Hamburg-based label Natural Resources, the EP is available for early stream below, along with the band’s first hand track by track breakdown! Dig it!
The release show for the EP will take place at a DIY space in the band’s hometown Stuttgart on September 5th. It is a secret event to be held at an intimate space, so if anyone who wants to come is kindly asked to drop the band a message. How cool is that?
Knife Eyes was formed in Autumn 2018 by four close friends in Stuttgart, Germany. We blend influences of our former projects (Hiding, Spraytan, Wolfenstein) with current trends in the music scene. The music is a hybrid of punk, post-hardcore and indie – a dense tangle that listeners ravel in. The lyrics, on the other hand, are more direct: written in German and English we tell different stories jumping between the real and the fictional world. A certain darkness pervades the music – a feeling of
being watched and being out of place. Strange. Hunted.Knife Eyes captures the zeitgeist of our current times – nothing is safe, everyone is watching their own back, preparing for the ultimate breakdown. This world is on the edge of a knife. You can see it, feel it and now you can hear it.
The title of our EP “Gewirr” is the German word for tangle or even maze. It is a structure you can not fully understand. You might feel it, see it, hear it, but it is impossible to distinguish and therefore to actually grasp its nature and meaning. This feeling of confusion and insecurity is the main theme of our EP. It deals with human behaviour within different social structures and how it can feel strange and inscrutable.
Euphorie
This song deals with the pressure to appear and act in a specific kind of way in today’s digital age. Everyone seems to have a surrogate persona on social media that is living the perfect life. There is a contrast between the light-hearted instrumental and the angst-driven vocals. The happy atmosphere seems fake. How can anyone be satisfied when good is not enough anymore, fulfilment is only achieved with the best one can have and we will not settle for anything but the top spot?
Über Mich (German for ‘above me’)
“Über Mich” was the first song we wrote as a band. Upbringing of children is the act of giving them strategies and resources to deal with their future life as an independent adult. But what if someone has nothing else to give but failure? When you realize that everything you have been taught determines you to take the same way your failed relative has taken? Your family blood, your DNA, your upbringing lurks like a shadow above your head, while you fight to leave your past behind and free yourself of your destiny.
Nachtmahr (old-fashioned German word for ‘nightmare’)
Lyrically this song is on a more fictional level. There is a city with no name, a murder case, a nameless investigator, and thousands of unanswered questions. On the quest to solve the murder case the lines between the investigator, the victim and the city seem to blur. The protagonist is losing track and finds himself in a maze of questions in which the boundaries of identity vanish. He becomes one with his task and therefore becomes the nightmare himself.
Kalt (German for ‘cold’)
“Kalt” describes the feeling of an individual living in a society that is prospering and rich but at the same time turning cold, inhuman and hateful. Everything seems fine, there is enough wealth for everyone but still people are left out and looked down upon. They are considered weaker and inferior since they are different. There is no real solidarity and compassion within this so-called modern society when you don’t fit the expectations.
