Eyesore & the Jinx

Eyesore & The Jinx’s new one ‘Nocturnal Athletes (Ode to Bruno)’ is the second single to come from their forthcoming debut album. The album, named ‘Jitterbug’ was recorded at Yellowbird Studio (Wirral) during the Summer of 2022 and produced by Daniel Fox (Gilla Band). The band headline EBGBS in their home city of Liverpool on 15th September.

All early pre-orders of the album will go towards funding its release through Bandcamp. The album will be widely available through record stores at a later date. ‘Jitterbug’ is being pressed on clear red vinyl featuring a fully illustrated gatefold. It is also available on CD with gatefold cover, too.

‘Nocturnal Athletes (Ode to Bruno)’’ vividly depicts the scene of a late night gym session. Josh Miller (vocals, bass) of the fidgety-post-punk trio introduces the single:

“Bruno Mars and I go way back. Our relationship began in mid-2021, shortly after the death of my mother which was followed by a period of ill-health and what was in hindsight a breakdown. I joined a gym in a feeble attempt to somehow rebuild myself and grip some structure which had evaded me like a wet bar of soap. 

In order to avoid the kind of people I’d always told myself occupied gyms, I began exercising very late at night alongside shift workers, competitive bodybuilders and other similarly self-conscious weight lifters. It was there that me and Bruno met. His porcelain smile, slick dance moves and sustained success beaming down at me from the Pure Gym TV screens, a stark contrast to the wasteland my life had become at that time. 

I’d like to say that I took great comfort in Bruno and his music during those intervening months. I didn’t. Time did its thing, and I moved on. But he was always there, a singular, gyrating constant, looming over me whilst I struggled to lift 10kg dumbbells. .” 

This follows recent single ‘No More Nails’ which picked up support with multiple spins from Steve Lamacq on BBC 6Music and an early A-list add at Amazing Radio following an interview with Shell Zenner. Alongside local BBC Introducing support, global blog coverage including an early addition to Dork Magazine’s Hype List, the single is also their first to appear in Spotify UK’s flagship New Music Friday playlist along with The Punk List.

Before their album announcement, Eyesore returned with their first new music since 2020 earlier this year with their self-released 7” ‘An Ideas Man’ / ‘Do What You Love’ which was well received globally by music blogs and sites, along with an Amazing Radio playlist spot lasting 5 weeks, BBC Introducing coverage and a handful of BBC 6Music plays from Steve Lamacq, who has supported the band since their second single ‘On An Island’. They also picked up playlisting across Deezer, TIDAL and apple.

Eyesore & The Jinx kicked off their 2023 live activity with an appearance at Dark Arts in Leeds in February alongside Egyptian Blue, Human Interest and Divorce, followed by a sold out headline show in Liverpool in March with Scott Lavene and Frog Dylan assisting them on support duties. A host of new tour dates have been announced, including a bigger Liverpool headline. They continued their run of shows in July hitting up Birmingham, Bristol, Newport and Dublin - all places they were yet to visit.

‘The Exile Parlour EP’ (their debut EP) came out in the midst of the pandemic, which scuppered live plans across the UK and EU to support the release. It was recorded and promoted thanks to funding from PRS Foundation’s PPL Momentum Accelerator fund for Liverpool bands/artists. Eyesore were able to showcase their EP with a live online performance from a closed FUTURE YARD in Birkenhead in late 2020, which was viewed by over 1200 fans. A successful crowdfunding campaign led to a vinyl pressing of their EP, released by Eggy Records in January 2021.

They spent the latter end of 2021 and much of 2022 writing new material and tightening it up on stage with some choice gigs supporting acts like Bodega, Working Mens Club and DITZ. While the band stepped away from releasing music to continue songwriting and demoing, previous single ‘Leisure Time’ carried on picking up support behind their backs. After receiving a KEXP song of the day, BBC 6Music support and favourable features from Stereogum amongst others, it was more recently picked up by Shameless US (Showtime) and somehow managed to appear in a number of Spotify editorial playlists at the end of 2022.

2023 has felt like a fresh start for the band, with their first release of the year being well-received and now cracking on with the release of their debut album.