Eels - 'Shootenanny!' (Dreamworks)
4/5
By: Joshua K
Something's up with Eels these days. Mainman Mark Oliver Everett has got the blues.
'Ah', fans of the band's previous LPs will cry, 'tell us something we don't know!'. Well, here's the difference: previously, the 'Man Called E' (as his first album, released, incredibly, 11 years ago, was titled) used indie rock and synth-pop to sing his life's woes. This time, his lyrics are more 'up' - or at least more self-determined - while the music is stripped back to simple, guitar-driven melodies overlaid with husky singing.
So, yes, 'SHOOTENANNY!' skilfully rides the current musical zeitgeist to great effect. Yet - unlike the Black Crowes-lite coming from young maximum r&b pretenders The Black Keys or the technically-excellent but plodding tones squawked out of Mr. David Viner's guitar - Eels haven't lost the pop sense that made 'Beautiful Freak', 'Electro-Shock Blues' and the rest of the back catalog such smooth, albeit lyrically-uncomfortable, listens.
Opener 'All In A Day's Work' sets the tone straightaway, a sustained seven-second guitar chord feeding into distorted vox and forceful drums. 'Saturday Morning' quickly follows, offering a '60s garage -band feel and well-placed falsettos. From there, momentum is continual through catchy standouts including 'Dirty Girl' (a winsome ode to 'a girl with a dirty mouth'), down-but-not-out survival anthem 'Rock Hard Times' and barbed apology 'Wrong About Bobby' ('I admit / He's not the dumbest angry young nitwit').
By the time proceedings end with the soothing tones of 'Fashion Awards' and the Bruce Springsteen-esque 'Somebody Loves You', the overall feeling is one of cautious optimism. While 'everybody knows these are rock hard times' (as the LP is subtitled), if E can make it through, then so can you.
Artists in this article: Eels
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