“Scared of Me” by Plankeye, Sunday, April 28, 2024

 

Brandon Ebel said on the band’s episode of Labeled Podcast that after MxPx and the O.C. Supertones, Tooth & Nail Records’ third biggest seller in the ‘90s and early ‘00s was Plankeye. Debuting as a punk band with lead singer Scott Silletta, the band released Spill independently in 1994 and then re-released the album after signing to Tooth & Nail Records. The band refined their sound on subsequent releases and even ventured into a mainstream Christian Rock sound on 1997’s The One and Only. The album was their best-selling record in part due to the promotion from a national tour with the Newsboys. 


 I LANDED THERE, YOU TOOK THE FALL. In 2002, Plankeye released Wings to Fly, a compilation of greatest hits and new recordings as a final farewell to the band. After the success of The One and Only, the band parted with lead singer Scott Silletta who founded the band Fanmail, bringing the singer back to his punk roots. Drummer Adam Ferry also left the band. Guitarist Eric Balmer recalls Plankeye’s dark days after losing their lead singer on the Labeled Podcast. While The One and Only was the band’s best-selling record Plankeye fans felt that the band had sold out and the members of Plankeye weren’t particularly happy with the direction the band had taken. To make matters worse, the national tour with the Newsboys was costly. To match the extravagant production of the successful Aussie-American band, Plankeye went into debt, renting sound equipment for the venues which were much bigger than they had previously played. But whereas most bands would have broken up, remaining members Balmer and bassist Luis Garcia felt obligated to repay their debts and fulfill their contract with Tooth & Nail Records. 


SO MANY WORDS THAT I CAN’T TAKE BACK. Over twenty years after they broke up, Plankeye is probably best remembered for their emotional song on 1999’s Relocation, “Goodbye.” Guitarist Eric Balmer took lead vocals for the band. Balmer talks about struggling to perform a set at Cornerstone with only bassist Luis Garcia accompanying him on stage. He tells Labeled host Matt Carter that the set was horrible until they premiered “Goodbye.” Balmer and Garcia assembled a band for their 2001 follow-up, Strange Exchange, but by the next year, Balmer and Garcia decided to break up Plankeye after releasing Wings to Fly. The compilation shows the band’s progression from punk to modern rock. Today’s song, “Scared of Me,” which seems to deal with a personal conflict in which both parties did wrong, was a new track on the compilation. The song’s final refrain “You can steal the blue from your own eyes,” echoes the line from Relocation’s “When It Comes”: “When it comes, it steals the blue from your eyes.”





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