Artist description Needleye's sound can be summed up in one word: original. Their eclectic approach to songwriting draws from a rich variety of influences, from modern rock acts like the Stone Temple Pilots to classic rock acts like Led Zeppelin and The Beatles, with a fervent, melodic approach that is reminiscent of U2. Literate, honest lyrics fearlessly confronnt thorny political, personal, and spiritual issues.

Music Style Hard Alt-Rock

Musical Influences Led Zeppelin, U2, The Beatles, Stone Temple Pilots

Similar Artists Stone Temple Pilots, Led Zeppelin

Artist History Assembled in March of 2001, Needleye is playing non-stop in Birmingham and around the Southeast to support their brand-new EP, Breaking the Silence. In September of 2001, the band was selected as SLABMUSIC.COM's Band of the Month. In January, they were awarded Band of the Year and People's Choice Award winner by the same organization.

Group Members Eric Gay - guitar, Dave Fallin - bass, Nate Burdette - drums

Instruments Electrics, Bass, Drums

Albums Breaking the Silence EP

Press Reviews When you think of hard rock in general, it's a very tough crowd to satisfy. It's been a while since we swore that we would roll around naked across a bed of tacks rather than hearing AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" one more time. But with the progression of rock and roll, we stumbled into an era of newer sounding music where the grunginess of Pearl Jam and Nirvana swooned our heads and we knew then that the anger was back. They were with us, there in the background. They were a clique of musicians who were being true to the old grunge sound. Among this group of musicians was Stone Temple Pilots and Soundgarden. And no band since has quite recaptured that feeling of rough edged, raw energy. But what if they might be here among us? Why, where else would they come from? That band just may be Needleye. 'Breaking the Silence' is the title of their 4 song demo and it's a prime example of what a demo should be. Starting the disc off is a song called 'Liberation' which cries early Soundgarden with it's spooky step, step, step beat, like you're being chased and trailed by a man with a limp. All of this covered with syrupy vocals that lend even more of the Garden with a haunting voice that sounds familiar of, you guessed it, Chris Cornell. The next track carries the title 'Jezebel', with head slamming snare cracks and an intricate vocal melody accompanied by hard rock train track guitar licks laying in the background swinging and gaining momentum to throw the listener over the edge on the chorus. Even more twists are added when the song falls deep into a bridge supported by the beat and bass riff whose main purpose is to sling-shot you back into the chorus again. And I won't even bore with even more "waxing lyrical", oh what the heck, yes I will. The third song is entitled 'Choke' which lightly bounces you in a catchy chorus lyric that is laden with hard guitar strums. Part moody psychotic, part face slam. Then the disc is closed out with yet one more morsel called 'Flag', which maintains an upbeat drum tempo only to be contrasted with slow strumming guitar and laid back vocal work, then double timed to go neck and neck with the drum pattern in under one minute. As you can tell, this CD caught us by surprise, especially since they tote themselves as a relatively new band. They've club hopped in Alabama and really haven't made their impact as of yet, but you can guarantee that you will hear about Needleye because the sound is so overwhelmingly unique, but still familiar. If you dig hard rock, grunge ala Soundgarden meets STP, give Needleye a listen on the 13th broadcast of the SLAB Music Radio Show. Then if you have to have more, visit their website at www.needleye.com and find out when they're playing or buy the CD. Get in on the groundlevel of something groundbreaking. --Chris Horton, Founder, SLABMUSIC.COM

Location Birmingham, AL - USA

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