Will it blend? A question that caught the internet by storm, a viral marketing campaign that captured the hearts of, I don’t know, some people I guess. Blendtec blenders were built to blend it all. It appears that a Southern California based project, Eyesplice, has come across the blueprints to the legendary meme blender as they’ve built something fascinating and provocative, leaving you wondering, will it blend?

To be clear, the answer to the pressing question is probably deeply rooted in subjectivity — and how far you explore the four album catalog of Eyesplice. I kicked things off with Shovel Songs, released in October ’24. The opening track, “102 fucking die,” crams exaggeratedly sassy screamo vocals into a digital clown car and takes you for a 2-minute spin on a DNA helix. The snare drum moves so fast it feels like digital artifacts and self-oscillation. The guitars are decidedly low fidelity in a charming way. 

Songs like “dollmeat” and “winners club” and “timeline of conditional love and unconditional fear” flit about genres with hummingbird spit. I think there might even be what sounds like a breakdown in there, but the fidelity gives the track a plausibility deniability to that sort of thing. 

“August 15 2023” gives you insight into the driving force of Eyesplice. Is it safe out there? It doesn’t feel like it. The visionary behind Eyesplice states the project is rooted in pride and trauma, and this track does seem to pull back that curtain. 

The album’s penultimate chapter is “rebirth” which demonstrates the emo and poppier influence that only barely creeps into Shovel Songs. And while I enjoy this track, and the acoustic guitar laden ending, this influence is more presence in albums like Stands for Loser Pop. 

At the end of the day, Shovel Songs is a pretty impressive amalgamation of dentist drill guitars, cybergrind drums, and noise. It can be unrelenting but is in no way inaccessible. If the world hadn’t bowed down to Zuck, we’d be putting this shit in our Top 8 next to Tom, Me and Him Call It Us, Genghis Tron, and the Blood Brothers — and while Eyesplice doesn’t sound precisely like those bands, you’ve gotta ask yourself, will it blend?