Dinosaur Eyelids may have an bizarre moniker (where did they come up with it?) but their music is far from mysterious. Garage rock may have had its heyday long ago but the influences are still keenly felt through many projects kicking around today, Dinosaur Eyelids being one of them. Stating their main inspirations as Kyuss, Soundgarden, Fu Manchu and a whole host of others, it's clear that for this New Brunswick band the past is still very much alive.
Left Turn On Red doesn't stray wildly from the rock path but the songs certainly feel well crafted and filled with passion. "Day Zero" is a crunchy, weighty track that begins on Evan Staats' gravelly voice ringing out in the silence, channelling Chris Cornell - and more his Audioslave project than the aforementioned Soundgarden - before the guitars kick into gear and bring the song to life. The similarities are uncanny and it's a little to Dinosaur Eyelids detriment that on a few occasions during the record you may be thinking that you've heard that song before - "LA Lady" plays a bit like a latter day Rolling Stones track. Still, Left Turn On Red should be seen as a band paying homage to the greats while trying to find their own space in the musical world.
"Whiskey" is a sorrowful number that plays with acoustic guitars and allows Staats' voice to take prominence, the emotion clear in words that crack around the bittersweet harmonica that bridges the silence. "Land and Sky" then takes the opposite route and blows up in chugging guitars and martial drums coming across all stoner rock.
The influences on Dinosaur Eyelids sound are apparent in much of their music and while its clear that the band are truly great lovers of the genre they inhabit perhaps they need to work on their individuality a little more before they are spoken about with the reverence their heroes are.
