Benjamin Verdoes releases The Evil Eye on Brick Lane Records. For Verdoes, a founding and continuing member of the Seattle-based internet sensation Mount St. Helens Vietnam Band (MSHVB) on Dead Oceans, it is his first venture into solo territory. I doubt I’m the first to say that Verdoes is just as powerful here as he has been throughout the MSHVB tenure. The Evil Eye is the first truly exciting album I’ve heard this year.