Wolf Eyes

It never could've happened with Throbbing Gristle or Merzbow. But the fact that these are different times and that these accomplished clatter merchants have signed to Sub Pop gives us hope that we're in for a new noise infusion. Everyone's hedging their bets -- even the VH1 Web site has a Wolf Eyes bio, which makes us think somebody saw a picture of photogenic Nate Young with a saxophone and thought, "Adult contemporary nihilism." If this tsunami of sound goes mainstream, like we're betting it will once Madison Avenue gets done recycling every last classic rock morsel to sell shampoo and cars, some brave ad man will decide to mate the bomber-prop-plane-meets-spitting-cobra-in-a-blender horror of "Urine Burn" with the 2008 Chevy Gestalt. Or better yet, imagine Wolf Eyes getting an exclusive ringtone. But what to choose? The sonic slather of "Stabbed in the Face," or the intergalactic whoosh of "Dead in a Boat"? The bigger question is whether the music industry at large will react accordingly -- when was the last time an A&R man came out of his car's emissions test and said, "I hear the single"?