Close One Sad Eye

Following their vivid and unsettling debut album The Vision And The Voice, Kommunity FK aimed for a somewhat smoother approach on their second full-length, the compelling and still highly regarded LA goth rock classic Close One Sad Eye. The striking cover photo of lead figure Patrick Mata, complemented by Bruce Licher’s design, certainly helped set expectations but the opening track alone confirmed it with what turned out to be their signature song. “Something Inside Me Has Died,” a sharp combination of moody rhythm section drive from Kevin Kipnis and Matt Chaiken, Margaret Arana’s gently ghostly keyboards and Mata’s guitar dramatics and nervously intense singing, simply does the business. But the immediately following “The Other World” arguably ramps it up further with Chaiken’s blasting drum rolls and Arana’s ominous drones setting the tone, and from there it all unfolds in a series of dark ruminations. Having a three song title stretch be called “Debauchery,” “Junkies” and “Trollops” may gild the lily a bit, but the keyboard-led dance punch of “The Vision And The Voice” is another complete standout.