The Living Eye

There's just something about the band name the Men from S.P.E.C.T.R.E. that puts listeners in mind of a fantasy collaboration between the Television Personalities circa Mummy Your Not Watching Me and Thee Milkshakes at the height of their garage-stomp powers. The exceedingly mod-trippy cover art only exacerbates the high expectations. It's therefore a bit disappointing to report that in fact The Living Eye is nothing of the sort; on the other hand, what it is is in fact pretty cool. This German instrumental combo is all about the organ (note the title of their record label), and The Living Eye contains 11 tracks of funky Hammond organ rock with some soul-jazz and lite-psych tendencies. The bits of vintage soundtrack voices that decorate a few songs are it for vocals, and there isn't much variation in either rhythm or arrangement from one song to the next, but taking each track on its own merits (think mp3 shuffle play) shows that the Men from S.P.E.C.T.R.E. have a very strictly limited musical aesthetic and they're devoted to exploring it fully. Bonus points for song titles like "Purple Pill People" and "Electric Tiger Snake."