HREE YEARS AFTER THE 69 EYES LAST GRACED ITS FANG BASE WITH A NEW ALBUM OF CRIMSON-STAINED HEARTBREAK, THE Helsinki vampires’ Joey Ramone-worshipping frontman, Jyrki 69, seems as chuffed about their succinctly titled tenth album, X (out October 9 from Nuclear Blast Records), as he is about the band’s
25-year run. “Aren’t The 69 Eyes actually even older than the Ramones ever were?” he
wonders. “That’s a bit scary! ... I’ve lived [the rock and roll life], partied and toured around the world for two decades now. It’s sometimes hard to analyze really what the hell we’ve been doing. But I’m sure we’ve created something new and unique. And that’s also typical for many bands, if they play long enough. Think about the Rolling Stones, for instance. They started as a rhythm and blues cover band, nearly.” The nod to the Stones may seem out of place for the
swaggering, raven-haired crooner but considering the in- spirations he drew upon for the new album’s blood oaths – classic rock ’n’ roll, blues, country and “‘my babe left me’ sort of vibes” – it wouldn’t seem as strange as, say, an ode to Elvis Presley, whose spirit seems to haunt the barroom crawl of X’s “Borderline,” complete with a breathy, King- like “thank you” from Jyrki at the end. “We’ve always had one song like this on our albums – ‘Only You Can Save
Me’ from Devils [2004], ‘Star of Fate’ from Angels [2007], ‘Eternal’ from Back in Blood [2009],” he explains. “We did an acoustic tour in Finland after our last album and that really brought our songs back in a new way. The audience was singing along and clapping the rhythm ... so when we started to write the new material, it was obvious that the songs should work in acoustic form, as well.” But whereas Back in Blood fully realized the sexy modern rock sound of Devils
and Angels – think Billy Idol excess crossed with Cult-like mysticism – X is smeared in the glammy drama of earlier efforts, such as 2002’s Paris Kills and 2000’s Blessed Be. Laced with the deceptively simple guitar snares of Bazie
and Timo-Timo, and the hip-swingin’ rhythms of bassist Archzie and drummer Jussi 69, it’s also steeped in the Finnish tradition of gothic metal bands such as H.I.M., Sentenced and Charon. “As the last album was our Hollywood rock ’n’ roll album, we wanted to get
back to our melancholic melodic side,” Jyrki says. “We made sure that all the songs have more to give than just a driving beat – we have the lyrics, melodies, harmonies, drama and darkness.” In that smoky, cinematic darkness thrives Jyrki’s unabashed love of horror,
which has permeated the band’s slick, leather-clad look over the years, and has inspired the band to pen singles based on iconic scare fare such as The Lost Boys, From Dusk Till Dawn and The Hills Have Eyes. On X, there’s even an homage to ’90s slasher I Know What You Did Last Summer. “I’m the band’s horror freak,” boasts Jyrki. “Christopher
Lee’s Dracula is the king. I consider The Cramps, The Me- teors and The Fuzztones influences, so that’s where the horror comes to our music. ... We tried, through the early days, to combine our influences, from the New York Dolls to The Sisters of Mercy. I think we started to discover how to do it on our third album, Savage Garden [1995], the name of which comes from Anne Rice’s books, and with our sixth album Blessed Be [2000], this synthesis was fi-
nally ready. When we played in Hollywood for the second time, both Phil Lewis from L.A. Guns and Glenn Danzig came to greet us backstage. I felt like we’d really made it!” Now, many moons later, the band is releasing its own brand of red wine, a
move that will put them in the company of other bands of decidedly impressive vintage. “It’s very good red wine from Verona, Italy, the town of Romeo and Juliet, so
it’s just perfect for us,” Jyrki notes. “It’ll simply be called ‘Red.’ Hey, other self- respecting classic rock bands can have their own wines today – AC/DC, Motör- head, Slayer – why not The 69 Eyes?”
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