Boys With X-Rays Eyes Announce New EP and Track-by-Track Guide

Boys With X-Ray Eyes will release a new EP called 'Oh My! How We Terrify' on Mrach 22nd.

1. Hot Rod
2. Electro The Human Lightning Bolt
3. The Great Thunder
4. The Weatherman
5. Sickest Bar In Town
6. Oh My! How We Terrify

A full track-by-track guide can be found by clicking read more.

BEN MORGAN (vocals):
“We were planning on holding out until we had finished several other ideas we had, but we couldn’t wait to get some new stuff out - which is why we decided to release an EP. Also, two of the songs that we'd previously recorded for our debut record had matured so much we felt they had to be re-recorded. ‘Electro…’ had been one of our signature songs on the debut record, so we decided we had to include it on the EP”.

Track 1 : 'Hot Rod'

BEN MORGAN (vocals):
“When we nailed the music for this track, it was so fast paced and brutal that it made writing the lyrics a bit challenging. Dario (Cozzi - guitars) had a hook for the chorus early on along with a few related lines after watching 'The Wizard of Oz'! For a short song it took me a while to get the structure and theme sorted.
It’s basically about a place where you grew up and developed a love/ hate relationship with. Most of us get that when we stay in one place for too long. It’s that thing where no matter how shit you think the people are or the town is - there’s no place like home. The frantic rock and roll vibe is so intense- it’s one of my favourite tracks but the first minute or so is so hard to scream - it’s pretty much all done on one breath and it’s relentless!”

DARIO COZZI (guitars):
“The first track ‘Hot Rod’ is right in your face. It’s a bunch of riffs I had from a while back but never got round to fleshing out into a complete song. It was originally called ‘The Kansas City Shuffle’ which to this day I still think is a better name - especially since I wrote most of the lyrics after watching 'The Wizard of Oz', but being the biggest in the band doesn’t always mean you get your own way. I don’t know where the name ‘Hot Rod’ came from, but it stuck."

PHIL EDWARDS (drums):
“The beatdown was originally very syncopated and didn’t really flow. Almost by accident we just thought "fuck it - play it straight" - which really works as its simplicity complements the complicated busier riffs”
DARIO:
“I ripped the 5/4 time signature part out of another song that I didn’t end up using. It gave the track somewhere to go, and then come back to.”

Track 2 : 'Electro The Human Lightning Bolt'

DARIO COZZI (guitars):
“'Electro…' is such a great song to play live. The kids love to sing along with the chorus. I think its has the perfect mixture - brutal yet melodic” PHIL: “Not to mention the fact that Ryan from 'Funeral for a Friend' guests on it… Boom lol” BEN: “This is my favourite song to play live. Its funny because originally the track didn’t even have a chorus, or any singing at all but it's become a BWXE anthem. It’s one of our oldest songs, but it’s evolved so much over time. When I listen to this song I just imagine some epic battle scene, like you see in '300' or 'Rambo'! I love that film - it’s so brutal - all I want from a film is blood, pain, death and suffering! When I sat down to write 'Electro…', it came so easily as I knew exactly what I wanted to write. It needed to be a straight up angry track. It came together very quickly. I feel like I vent so much frustration when we play this live – it feels good. The chorus has evolved over time and I love it when the kids sing the chorus back to us. We’re so proud of this song.”

Track 3 : 'The Great Thunder'

PHIL EDWARDS (drums):
“We wrote this over the period of a few practice sessions. Most of the time Dario will come up with riffs and a rough cut of a track, then bring it to practice or send it to us to put our own ideas to - but 'The Great Thunder' came about from some good old fashioned jam sessions. Without having a frame of reference (i.e. a rough demo), its generally a more drawn out process writing this way. I wrote the chorus to this track when I was about 19 years old. It’s a small snippet of my life at the time and it’s nice it made it into the track. It’ll always remind me of where and who I was at that point in my life. Everyone has felt like that at some point so I think it’s something that’s easy to relate to” Ben: “Both ‘…Terrify’ and ‘The Great Thunder’ are quite epic. The more I sing this song, the more I realise how much of my views and opinions are vented in the lyrics. I’m a pretty opinionated guy, and I’m always up for a discussion/argument about things that piss me off e.g. religion, politics…all the typical stuff. Without intention, this song has become our way of venting our frustrations at how religion is still dominating so many areas of our culture. We all chipped in some lines in this song, and when it all came together it struck me how much I love it. The chorus is one of my favourites from all our songs, and the break downs throughout the track are filled with a ‘Fuck you!’ to all this religion malarkey!.”

DARIO COZZI (guitars):
“It’s always hard chopping away at a song when it has too many parts. As boring as it is to just keep repeating parts over and over, you need to give the listener something they can remember. Otherwise what’s the point if you forget the track as soon as you hear it? A part doesn’t necessarily have to be the same, but its vital to create a familiarity during a song to keep people interested. So with both these tracks we had to lose riffs, which may or may not come in handy in other songs down the line” PHIL “That’s why its always a good idea to do a live recording or a rough demo. Its totally different listening back to a track than just playing through it and it gives you a different perspective.”

Track 4: 'The Weatherman'

PHIL EDWARDS (drums):
“’'Weatherman' started life as a much more standard metal song, but quickly found its feet. I think it stands out not only because of the guest vocal (courtesy of Alex Wiltshire from 'The Guns') , but because it’s a slight departure from our other tracks” BEN: “But then again, I think all our songs offer something slightly different from each other - I mean how boring would it be if every track was in exactly the same vein?” DARIO: “I totally agree. I really enjoy the diversity we have in our set. Its cool being able to play in a band with what I would say is varying sound, but a sound still recognizable as our own.”

Track 5: 'Sickest Bar In Town'

BEN MORGAN (vocals):
“I remember writing this one - It came to me straight away. It’s got that intense rock and roll vibe that carries through the whole track. I don’t know where the subject matter came from but we all know how alcohol can so easily cloud your judgment and we’ve all known girls like the one in the track. It’s about those nights which seemed like a good idea at the time, the girls that too many people are slightly to familiar with (!) and if you listen to the track you’ll get the picture. ’Sickest…’ is one of my favourite tracks from the first record. It changed so much we just had to re-record it.”

DARIO:
“The most notable changes are the added beatdowns from the original version.”
PHIL:
“Gotta love those beatdowns” DARIO: “The main riffs were tweaked too. It’s just a great song to play live. It has its frantic moments, but gives you the chance to get loose and throw out a few moves on the heavy parts - which is the reason for living, in my opinion - a good old fashioned "air head butt" ha ha.”

Track 6. Oh My! How We Terrify

BEN MORGAN (vocals):
“This is such an epic song. I love films, especially the classic superhero films. I guess that’s where the inspiration for this track came from. I love the idea of a superhero who has a split personality. If I had some "special powers" like Superman, for example, I’d be torn between using them for the greater good and thinking ‘fuck it!’ and just fully exploiting the powers for my own good! Wouldn’t everyone?
That’s the story that flows through this song. It’s a battle between good and evil. It has a split personality and it comes packed with a punch. Sometimes a song wont have a chorus at all, and doesn’t need one - it's not like every track has to have singing. Other times though, you can just hear it in your head. It's almost like its writing itself and you know a bit of melody will really open up the song.”

DARIO COZZI (guitars):
“I always find it harder if I have a melodic chorus part written and try to put a song around it. Usually I’ll write something melodic and put it aside. It's weird but I love thinking of the guitar as a percussive instrument. You can do so much with a rhythm that the notes don’t even matter. That’s where all the harsh dissonant chords come from. I love it when you can’t quite make out the root note. On the flip side too much of that alienates a lot of listeners - which is why if you can do it without sounding cheesy - a bit of melody can be just what the doctor ordered.”

PHIL:
“That’s pretty much what happened with this track. The song was quite brutal and epic with lots of parts. The chorus/melodic parts were a separate thing. After we stripped a bit out of the song, the intro and chorus just fell into place."

Summary

"We're really proud that in the time we had and for the money we spent, we ended up with a great record. It really makes it worthwhile when hard work pays off. Its part of what you live for when you're in a band - hearing the finished product. We plan to tour our selves to death this year and put the next record into motion. I can’t wait to see what this year brings, as 'Oh My!…' is a definite progression from our debut recording. Our next one is going to have to take it up to 11.