EELS

BACKDROP:
I saw Eels on the second stage of Lollapalooza and they instantly won me over. Not only did they take some good pot shots at Snoop Dogg (who was playing the main stage), they reworked the arrangement for “Novocaine For The Soul.” This is the type of move a band does after playing a song for decades, not on its first major tour. I use the term band loosely. Eels is really all about the man called E, the band is just there for window dressing.



BEAUTIFUL FREAK:
This album sets the groundwork for the Eels sound. Some people have criticized them for not deviating from their formula, but I say bull hickey. Granted, they don’t deviate, but neither does AC/DC, and we still love them. Eels have gotten some flak for sounding like Beck, but here E wears his heart on his sleeve at a time when Beck was still drenched in irony. And the title track was used on the soundtrack to Hellboy II. That’s pretty cool.



ELECTRO-SHOCK BLUES:
The lyrical themes have grown darker this time (“Elizabeth On The Bathroom Floor” is second only to Bright Eyes’ “Padriac My Prince” as my vote for most depressing song ever), no surprise given the deaths of E’s mother and sister, though he does weave in some black humor with “Cancer For The Cure” and “Hospital Food.” Musically, the variations from BEAUTIFUL FREAK are subtle at best but effective nonetheless. If you like Eels, you’ll like this.



DAISIES OF THE GALAXY:
A happier and more upbeat sheen on this one, though I guess thematically, E had nowhere to go but up. I mean, unless he wanted to go full-on nihilistic. The hip hop tinged edges are toned down to focus more on the folk pop sensibilities. E has honed his songcraft further. The tossed off feeling belies the tight composition and masks the underlying vulnerability. Another beautiful release. And against all conventional wisdom, go for the edited release where "It's A Motherfucker" is reworked into "It's A Monstertrucker."



SOULJACKER:
The most immediate thing that's apparent here is, well, how immediate it is. More rocking, more aggressive, more passionate. Even on the quirkier moments, E is more forceful than he's ever been. There's not a bad moment here. Another album that'd be on my top 50 list. Everyone else should reserve a spot too. By the way, I once saw a bus stop boxer. It's a pretty odd sight.

[I didn't intend for this to be a two-parter, but after typing most of it up, I came to realize that there's a double album I haven't listened to. I haven't had the time to listen to it and debated whether or not just to leave it off, but then I decided I'd like an extra week's worth of material so I'm shortchanging you all with two short blogs on Eels.]