HILARY STOHS-KRAUSE / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Thursday, March 16, 2006 6:00 pm
Eyes Catch Fire doesn’t like labels. They’re not pop. They’re also not rock or emo. They can’t even decide if they’re a Lincoln band or an Omaha band. But just because they can’t define their music doesn’t mean they’re not good.
“It’s just what we like to play,” bassist Phillip Kluck said. “That’s the best way to put it.”
Lead singer Josh Soden disagreed.
“I was gonna say ‘energetic emotion,’” he said.
“Can I say, ‘kickass,’” guitarist Joal Sochor asked, trying to keep a straight face. “I’d say a nice blend of a few different styles … kind of, what, power-pop?”
This designation was met with cries of disgust and emphatic head shakes from his bandmates.
“Pop-rock,” Kluck said definitively.
“Fantastic. Energetic. Crazy,” Sochor added.
Soden sighed.
“Any music like us,” he said, “they always try to classify it.”
A band that cites the Beach Boys and Frou Frou as influences seems an unlikely pick for the hardcore rock-themed Taste of Chaos tour — but then again, maybe not.
The band’s six-song EP “Remember to Forget” was released last August. It has a solid pop-punk backbone mixed with slight emo tendencies and a healthy dose of screaming. It manages to be melodic without being soft.
When Taste of Chaos comes to the Pershing Center on Wednesday, Eyes Catch Fire will be there too, wandering among such headlining acts as Story of the Year, Atreyu, Thrice and As I Lay Dying until their time to perform arrives.
The band also includes guitarist Mark Beckenhauer and drummer Geoff Marshall.
To win a spot in the show, the band had to submit music to tour organizers, who then narrowed the list to three bands from the area. Fans voted for their top choice via the Internet.
“Basically, the kids got to decide,” Sochor said.
“Older people, too,” Soden added.
“Yeah, the nursing homes really came through for us,” Sochor said dryly.
All three said they were excited about the show and looking forward to getting their name out.
They don’t want to be recognized as “the local band,” however.
“(We want) to fit in with the tour like we’ve been there from the beginning,” Sochor said.
Their best show to date was a gig at Club Roxbury, 10841 Q St., Omaha, they said.
“Awesome lighting, good sound, people were just pumped to be there,” Soden said. “There was a lot of movement. Other shows, you can count the number of buttons on a kid’s shirt because no one’s moving. They’re just staring at you.”
Their first show, however, was different.
“It was the first show — I mean, everything’s fun at the first show,” Kluck said.
He smiled ruefully, then added, “We had a lot of technical difficulties.”
That was then.
Looking ahead to the Taste of Chaos concert, Sochor said: “We put on a really good show. I’d say we’re one of the best live shows around.”
Reach Hilary Stohs-Krause at 473-7254 or hstohs-krause@journalstar.com.