Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic and Sublime’s Bud Gaugh, the orphans of two quintessential ’90s bands, teamed up with Curt Kirkwood of the Meat Puppets to play Goleta’s The Living Room last Friday as the two-month-old post-grunge, folky rock band Eyes Adrift.

Guitarist/vocalist Kirkwood said Eyes wrote and recorded about 10 songs since December, most off a forthcoming first LP.

“I’ve known Krist since ’93, and I’ve known Bud since very recently,” said Kirkwood. “Bud called me at some point shortly after Krist did, after I’d been touring on the West Coast in October, and asked if I wanted to do something.”

The small crowd at The Living Room was privy to all the tracks from the upcoming album, with space squeezed in for story-time. Bassist/vocalist Novoselic proclaimed his love for all as he entered the stage and told anecdotes about Dave Grohl making Christina Aguilera do a beer bong, Ozzy Osbourne marking his territory with urine, and the use of foreskins in plastic surgery.

Then Eyes Adrift pounded out their slightly countrified take on grungy alt-rock. Novoselic and drummer Gaugh laid down rock-solid grooves for Kirkwood to build riffs and solos on. The songs’ brevity recalled each member’s punk roots and the band wound up many songs with short Kirkwood solos full of delay and feedback. Novoselic and Kirkwood sang softly, strayed artfully out of tune, and mumbled their lyrics.

Eyes Adrift is not limited by its basic M.O., though. The long-ending jam contrasted feedback with impressive traditional guitar solos, showing how effective noise can be when the guitarist uses it as an artistic strategy rather than a device to cloak ineptitude. One song, christened “The Rockabilly Stomp” by a passerby, showcased Kirkwood’s remarkably rapid fingerpicking. Another, dedicated to JonBenet Ramsey and sung clearly by Novoselic, condemned the “blood-sucking media” for exploiting tragedy while acknowledging that the track itself participates in the exploitation.

The tour winds up in Austin on Thursday. According to Kirkwood, the band plans to “finish up the album there, then maybe go out and hit the East Coast, then come back and do a full national [tour] to support the album release.

“We’re not talking to anybody yet,” he said “We just have an album almost done … the point is that we own it and we’re gonna get it done before anybody can tell us what to do with it.”

That plan ought to ensure a debut album worthy of Eyes Adrift’s pedigree.

Interview courtesy of Matthew Mishory KCSB-91.9 FM