As the tracklisting suggests, a number of the songs on They Came From the Sky address concerns near and dear to the hearts of "Coast to Coast AM" listeners: flying saucers, alien queens, "peopleoids," etc. Whether Human Eye frontman Timmy Vulgar's a self-aware skeptic when it comes to unidentified flying objects or a Fox Mulder acolyte looking to find a few potential converts is up for debate. What's important is that he's able to bridge that gap when addressing his congregation. As far as modern-day garage rock acts go, Human Eye used to be one that had trouble standing out. They could work up a nice head of steam when they wanted, and their fondness for the stuff of Ed Wood features and other B-movie fare was always charming, but their previous two albums were inconsistent slogs through various levels of fidelity and songcraft. On They Came From the Sky, the band's focus on extraterrestrials has been matched by an equally exacting focus on their music.
Granted, the "alien" thing happening on this album is nothing new for Vulgar. This sort of sci-fi schlock has been a trademark throughout most of his recorded work. In fact, one Sky track, "Impregnate the Martian Queen, Pt. 2", is a sequel/rewrite of a track from Vulgar's last album as Timmy's Organism, Rise of the Green Gorilla. Also, a few tracks deal with topics that are slightly more grounded, like the self-explanatory "Brain Zip (Kickin' Back in the Electric Chair)". What makes Sky stand out in Vulgar's discography is the melding of these semi-nostalgic concerns with a sound that hearkens back to those good old days in a refreshing manner. If the intent with Sky was to create an album that could be the sort of Nuggets-worthy vinyl treasure one would find at a garage sale behind a bunch of dog-eared copies of Famous Monsters of Filmland and a Space Ghost tin lunchbox, mission accomplished.
As a vocalist, Vulgar combines Iggy Pop's laconic drawl with Roky Erickson's unrelenting fervor, giving the pulpy stories unfurled in tracks like "Alien Creeps" and "The Movie Was Real" a little extra juice. Sci-fi-friendly sounds pepper a good number of these tunes-- the album's opening salvo, "Alien Creeps", features what seems to be the sound of a malfunctioning radio transmitter, while "Impregnate the Martian Queen" offers a burbling noise that sounds an awful lot like the 13th Floor Elevators' "electric jug." As a guitarist, Vulgar's never too far from ripping off a mind-splitting fuzzed-out solo that, like the rest of his band, is heavy and stupid in all the right ways: His rave-up closing out the album's title track is especially "out there." Human Eye have always seemed like the type of band whose perfect day involves a secluded basement, a recreational substance, and a horror/sci-fi movie marathon featuring second-rate monster suits and pie tins dangling on very visible strings. With They Came From the Sky, Human Eye finally make that sort of get-together sound appealing.
