"Today's not the same as before/Starting with a clean slate/Promises of new rewards." This seems an appropriate beginning to Danielle Dax's first solo record, which comes on the heels of a two-album stint with experimental pop group the Lemon Kittens. Certainly, Dax makes the most of this particular tabula rasa. Self-written, produced, and performed, the idiosyncratic Pop-Eyes truly lives up to its promise. Perhaps most impressive here is the way that Dax puts odd musical bedfellows -- from Middle Eastern percussion to doo wop vocals -- next to each other in combinations that should clash, but instead complement each other nicely. Particularly rewarding are the Arabic-flavored "Bed Caves" and absurd yet eerie "Here Come the Harvest Buns."