photo by Owen Leavey (@owenleavey); photo courtesy of The Eyetraps
Single Reviews of The Eyetraps: “The Sound of It” and “Every Word”
The Eyetraps, nominees for the New England Music Awards‘ “Rising Star: Vermont” award this year, are a Burlington-based four-piece rock band that delivers an impeccable throwback college rock sound. Very 1995, in the best possible way.
The Eyetraps are Alex Frantz (lead vocals, guitar), Zack Shafer (backing vocals, lead guitar), Phil Smith (backing vocals, bass), and Sophie Powell (drums). The band followed up its eponymous 2025 debut EP with a pair of fun singles in 2026.
artwork created and designed by Alex Frantz; image courtesy of The Eyetraps
The first of those 2026 singles, “The Sound of It,” sports crunchy guitars, a distorted bass line, comparatively light-touch drums (for the most part), and somewhat echoey vocals with a distinctively college rock, almost seemingly disinterested delivery much of the time, though the vox elevate in intensity when delivering the key chorus vocals. The song is catchy when it’s focused on the melody. But, of course, it’s a college rock track, so it descends into noise and chaos, particularly on the back half, something that’s sure to delight an audience of slightly buzzed, kind-of-sweaty undergrads. Or others of us who enjoy this sound, perhaps including those college students’ parents who listened to music like this 31 years ago.
artwork created and designed by Alex Frantz; image courtesy of The Eyetraps
“Every Word” starts a little slower then builds into coolness. Well, that’s not entirely fair. The light instrumentation supporting vocals that I’d call “wispy with an edge” for most of the first half-minute is pretty cool. The vox are joined with buzzy, jangly, distorted guitarwork that doesn’t really hit full buzzy noisiness until about 45 seconds in. “Every Word” then retains its noisy intensity, as the musical and vocal patterns change and remain different for the rest of the track. I mean, yeah, there’s a soaring bridge in there, too, but that’s just part of the song structure, not a true softening of the buzzy college rock noise. As a nifty closing touch, the very final line is nearly unaccompanied, a repeat of the song’s opening line, “Every word is more than rain.” Don’t ask me to explain the lyric. Pay attention. It’s a cool song and deserves that.
These two tracks are a great introduction to The Eyetraps. If you like that buzzy college rock sound, they do it exceptionally well. And if you like what you hear, there’s also the 2025 self-titled EP to check out (as I’m going to) to get help scratch that Eyetraps itch while you wait for more new tuneage.
