Wolf Eyes

• Genre: Noise Rock
• Hometown: Ann Arbor
• Wolf Eyes Website

About

Wolf Eyes have been evolving since the late 1990s, when Michigander Nate Young made strange noises come out of the electronic gadgets he had come across and perverted for his own uses. Aaron Dilloway (of seminal '90s noise bands Couch, Galen and the supremely retarded Pterodactyls) joined up soon after, bringing along demented guitar flailings, a microphone he actually chews on, and more eccentric gadgets. Next the pair started adding extremely minimal beats to the caterwaul. In 2001, denim-clad Judas Priest fan John Olson came on board, adding a third level of sonic unholiness to the mix. The group gradually moved from formless noise rants into a sort of ultra heavy disco-metal psychedelia, gaining a Deadhead-like following in the process and basically leading the charge for the noise rock insurgence of the early 2000s alongside such bands as N.Y.C.'s Black Dice and Providence, RI's Lightning Bolt, among others. Most recently, the group has moved beyond allowing for beats -- or any type of discernible rhythm -- and gone directly into such ideas as changing the direction of one's blood or controlling the weather through pure volume, electronically manipulated noise, and Young's super menacing vocal rasp.

- Mike McGuirk