Eels

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EELS

EELS

After a couple of song-rich, keyboard-dominated albums released under the Man Called E moniker, Mark Everett morphed into the trio Eels with 1996’s [DreamWorks Records released] Beautiful Freak. At its best, the debut gave a trip-hop twist to the California singer/songwriter tradition; at its worst, it suggests one more bummed-out wise guy’s take on Beck’s collage-style rock. With a sense of humor that skews toward cynicism that’s alleviated occasionally by bouts of sincerity, Everett is not the likeliest subject to make a transcendent album about death. But he nearly pulls it off on 1998’s Electro-Shock Blues. The music is somber but not sedate, with bursts of saxophone, off-kilter orchestration, and outright noise evoking the turbulence beneath the deadpan vocals. The singer battles not only depression but also his penchant for irony, and his struggle to move beyond them makes for a fascinating if sometimes morbidly downcast listen. On 2000’s Daisies of the Galaxy, Eels replace the sprawling sound experiments of the first two albums with a more direct folk-rock approach. “Me, I’m feeling pretty good, as of now,” Everett sings, which passes for euphoria in the Eels’ world, and the music’s easy going charm affirms him. 2001’s Souljacker plunges back into the darkness, this time with fuzz-coated guitars and rudimentary blues-punk attack. It’s a suitable backdrop for Everett’s favorite subject- loneliness, alienation, and despair, this time told through the perspective of assorted freaks and misfits such as the “Dog Faced Boy” and the troubled high school student in “Soul Jacker Pt. 1.” The scrappy guitars and just-rolled-out-of-bed vocals return on 2003’s Shootenanny! Surprisingly warm childhood memories (“Saturday Morning”) collide with the “Agony” of adulthood, while irony gives way to more resilient traits, summed up by a lyric that might’ve been unthinkable a decade earlier, “Somebody loves you, and you’re gonna make it through.” 2005’s double album [and first album released with my being a fan / the band being on my radar] Blinking Lights and Other Revelations proved E was not short on ideas and melodies, with my stand-out favorite “Railroad Man.” E then released a trilogy of albums: 2009’s Hombre Lobo, 2010’s End Times & 2010’s Tomorrow Morning (Two albums in one year? Who does this band think they are? The Beatles?). 2013 gave us Wonderful, Glorious, 2014 gave us The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett, and their latest release was 2018’s The Deconstruction. Prolific to say the least. New listeners can’t go wrong with the greatest hits collection, 2008’s Meet The EELS:Essential EELS 1996-2006 Vol. 1 and for deeper listening to you could check out the companion to that compilation,  2008’s Useless Trinkets- B-Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased 1996-2006. I would be selling the band short if I did not mention their three amazing live albums: 2002’s Electro-Shock Blues Show, 2006’s Eels with Strings: Live at Town Hall, and 2015’s Live at Royal Albert Hall.  You can tell a lot by a band by their live albums, whether they can swim or sank. Eels prove they are able to swim, they are ever-morphing-and-evolving, proving they can slip 'n' slide with the best of them. I'd also like to mention E's amazing autobiography, Things the Grandchildren Should Know. There you have it. A man who truly writes and sings what he feels… It’s…

EELS