''The Eye'' is the debut studio album by

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...

band Kukl. It was released in September 1984 by Crass Records. The album peaked at No. 6 in the

UK Independent Albums Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rel ...

. A music video for the track "Anna" was released, directed by Tage Ammendrup. The album has been reissued numerous times: in 1997 by Crass, and in 2002, 2004 and 2008 by

One Little Indian One Little Independent Records (formerly One Little Indian Records) is an English independent record label. It was set up in 1985 by members of various anarcho-punk bands, and managed by former Flux of Pink Indians bassist Derek Birkett. In ...

Production

''The Eye'' was recorded at Southern Studios in January 1984. It was produced by

Crass Crass were an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977, who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a lifestylism, way of life, and a resistance movement. Crass popularised the anarcho-punk movement of the ...

member Penny Rimbaud and engineered by Tony Cook. The cover art was designed by Dada Nana. It was named after Björk's favorite book, '' Story of the Eye'' by Georges Bataille (1928), an intense story about a young French couple involved in sexual perversions and violent behaviors. The album included "Dismembered", a new version of the band's first single, " Söngull" (1983), with most of the guitars replaced by pipes and bells.

Critical reception

In a 1984 review at ''

Sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

'' magazine,

David Tibet David Tibet (born David Michael Bunting; 5 March 1960) is a British poet and artist who founded the music group Current 93, of which he is the only full-time member. He was given the name "Tibet" by Genesis P-Orridge, and in January 2005 he ...

gave the album a perfect score, saying: "'The Eye' steps boldly out of the supposed confines that the Crass label is meant to impose...and drags the listener into a glacial world of confused emotion and shattered visions." He compared it to ''

The Scream ''The Scream'' is a composition created by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893. The agonized face in the painting has become one of the most iconic images of art, seen as symbolizing the anxiety of the human condition. Munch's work, including ...

'' by Siouxsie and the Banshees, "primarily I suppose because of the howling vocals and decaying metal". Tibet, David. Kukl ''The Eye'' review. ''

''. 3 September 1984

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

praised the album, stating that "''The Eye'' is a patently draining affair seemingly devoid of any coherent structure. Repeated spins, however, unearth a highly sophisticated aesthetic that borrows evenly from

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

, noisecore, avant garde, and good old-fashioned

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

. Although highly discordant and often atonal, it's a curiously engaging record, aided in part by Björk's darkly emotive vocals and the presiding, almost mythical, sense of impending lunacy. It may not be for everyone, but this is gutsy, non-conformist music as authored by one of the most passionate, intense bands in Iceland's esteemed history".

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. Kukl * Björk (credited as "Bjørk") – vocals, woodwinds *

Einar Örn Benediktsson Einar Örn Benediktsson (born 29 October 1962), often billed as Einar Örn, is an Icelandic popular music singer and trumpet player. He was a member of the Sugarcubes. He served as a member of the Reykjavík City Council between 2010 and 2014 ...

(credited as "Einar Ørn") – vocals, metal winds * Einar Arnaldur Melax (credited as "Melax") – pipe bells, harmonium, all other strings *

Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson (born 11 December 1954) is an Icelandic musician. Music career Early bands Steinblóm (Stone Flowers) (1969) was his first group. It was a trio formed by Guðlaugur (electric and acoustic guitars), Haraldur Joha ...

(credited as "God Krist") – electric strings * Birgir Mogensen (credited as "Birgir") – bass *

Sigtryggur Baldursson Sigtryggur Baldursson (born 2 October 1962) is an Icelandic drummer and singer. Sigtryggur was born in Norway to Icelandic parents. He was a founding member of the Sugarcubes and has been a longtime fixture on the Icelandic punk and alternati ...

(credited as "Trix") – drums Additional personnel * Tony Cook – engineering * Dada Nana – artwork and design

References

External links

Website about the history and discography of Kukl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eye, The 1984 albums Kukl (band) albums