Frog Eyes

Frog Eyes
Background information
Origin	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Genres	Indie rock
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Absolutely Kosher Paper Bag Records
Associated acts	Swan Lake, Sunset Rubdown, Blue Pine, Blackout Beach
Members	Carey Mercer Dante DeCaro Shyla Seller Matt Skillings
Past members	Michael Rak Grayson Walker Spencer Krug McCloud Zicmuse Melanie Campbell Ryan Beattie Megan Boddy

Frog Eyes is an indie rock band from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada known for their highly idiosyncratic songs, which center on Carey Mercer's intense vocals. Their 2010 album Paul's Tomb: A Triumph was a longlisted nominee for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize.^[1] The band is in rotation on CBC Radio.^[2]

History

Frog Eyes is led by singer/songwriter/guitarist Carey Mercer.^[3] Drummer Melanie Campbell^[4][5] and Mercer are married, and are Frog Eyes' only two permanent members. However, she does not play on the band's 2013 release Carey's Cold Spring. Campbell is originally from Penticton, British Columbia, as is former member Spencer Krug.

Mercer's prior band Blue Pine, which also included Frog Eyes bassist Michael Rak, released two records, although the second Blue Pine remained unreleased during the band's existence, instead being released as a bonus album appended to the reissue of Frog Eyes' debut, The Bloody Hand. Mercer also has a solo project, Blackout Beach, and has released four albums and a single under that name. Alternate versions of four Blackout Beach songs appear on Frog Eyes releases.

Frog Eyes performed with Destroyer in live shows and on Dan Bejar's album Notorious Lightning & Other Works. This collaboration led to the formation of Swan Lake, a "songwriter's project" with Dan Bejar of Destroyer/The New Pornographers and Spencer Krug of Sunset Rubdown/Wolf Parade. Frog Eyes performed at Wavelength No. 177 in August 2003 (Wavelength Music Arts Projects).

On April 26, 2010, Frog Eyes released their fifth full-length studio album, Paul's Tomb: A Triumph, in the UK. It was released a day later in the US. It is the band's first release on Bloomington, Indiana indie label Dead Oceans.^[6]

Members

Current

• Carey Mercer
• Dante DeCaro
• Shyla Seller
• Matt Skillings

Former

• Melanie Campbell
• Megan Boddy
• Ryan Beattie
• Grayson Walker
• McCloud Zicmuse
• Michael Rak
• Spencer Krug

Discography

• The Bloody Hand (2002) Global Symphonic
• Split w/ Jerk with a Bomb single (2002) Global Symphonic

• Emboldened Navigator EP (2003) Soft Abuse
• The Golden River (2003) Animal World/Global Symphonic
• Ego Scriptor (2004) Absolutely Kosher
• The Folded Palm (2004) Absolutely Kosher
• The Future Is Inter-Disciplinary or Not at All (2006) Acuarela
• Tears of the Valedictorian (2007) Absolutely Kosher
• Frog Eyes/ Hello Blue Roses 7" (2008) Absolutely Kosher
• Paul's Tomb: A Triumph (2010) Dead Oceans
• Carey's Cold Spring (2013) Paper Bag Records

See also

• Music of Canada
• Canadian rock
• List of Canadian musicians
• List of bands from Canada
• List of bands from British Columbia
• Category:Canadian musical groups

References

External links

• Absolutely Kosher: Frog Eyes
• Frog Eyes at Allmusic
• Pitchfork's review of Tears of the Valedictorian
• Pitchfork's review of The Golden River