American Music Club | ||
Allmusic Biography : Although chosen for its deliberately nondescript qualities, in retrospect the name American Music Club was the perfect moniker for the lauded San Francisco-based band led by singer/songwriter Mark Eitzel: over the course of nine acclaimed albums, the group tied together the disparate strands of the American musical fabric -- rock, folk, country, punk, even lounge schmaltz -- into a remarkably distinct and riveting whole, creating a brilliant and cohesive body of work dappled by moments of haunting beauty and impenetrable darkness. Although born in California, Eitzel spent his formative years in Great Britain and Ohio before returning to the Bay Area in 1980 with the punk band the Naked Skinnies. After the bands breakup, he founded American Music Club in 1983 with guitarist Vudi (born Mark Pankler), bassist Dan Pearson, keyboardist Brad Johnson, and drummer Matt Norelli. Despite the skill and diversity of the other members, Eitzel quickly became the groups focal point: an evocative vocalist and gutter poet capable of composing songs of disquieting honesty and intensity, he was also frequently the bands worst enemy -- a heavy drinker since the age of 16, AMC shows often disintegrated into surreal backdrops for Eitzels alcoholic rants and self-destructive showmanship, and throughout the groups tumultuous career, his erratic behavior led him to briefly exit their ranks on numerous occasions. Still, Eitzel quelled his demons long enough for AMC to record their 1985 debut, The Restless Stranger; later disowned by the group, the album does offer a rough outline of their increasingly eclectic sound, and firmly established Eitzels world view, a harrowing vision of life as seen through the bottom of a shot glass. 1987s Engine honed the formula: the addition of producer Tom Mallon as a full-time member expanded the groups sonic palette, while Eitzels songs achieved new levels of intimacy as compositions like "Outside This Bar" and "Garys Song" grappled with the realities of the drinking life. While American Music Club languished in obscurity in their native country, they earned a solid European cult following on the strength of 1988s California, a frequently brilliant collection highlighted by the shimmering country and folk accouterments which couched fractured love songs like "Firefly" and "Western Sky"; "Blue and Grey Shirt," Eitzels most heartfelt and powerful composition to date, was the first in a series of devastating chronicles of friends lost to the AIDS epidemic. Still, the album garnered little notice, and their next LP, 1989s United Kingdom, appeared only in the nation which lent the record its name: another superb collection drawing on leftover material and live tracks, it featured "The Hula Maiden," the first recorded fruits of Eitzels growing fascination with lounge crooning. After a solo acoustic Eitzel release, 1991s Songs of Love, American Music Club emerged with its masterpiece, Everclear, a remarkable song cycle released to phenomenal critical acclaim (and the usual negligible commercial interest). Still, the lavish praise heaped on Everclear (named in honor of a vicious, 180-proof transparent liquor) finally made the major labels take notice, and a bidding war ensued. After months of negotiations, AMC -- now consisting of Eitzel, Vudi, Pearson, multi-instrumentalist Bruce Kaphan, and drummer Tim Mooney -- signed with Reprise in the U.S. and Virgin throughout the rest of the world, and entered the studio with acclaimed producer Mitchell Froom. The result, 1993s Mercury, was a typically iconoclastic effort featuring unwieldy song titles like "What Godzilla Said to God When His Name Wasnt Found in the Book of Life" and "The Hopes and Dreams of Heavens 10,000 Whores" resting uneasily against lush, obtuse gems like "If I Had a Hammer," "Apology for an Accident," and "Johnny Mathis Feet." Despite glowing reviews, Mercury fared poorly on the charts, and earned virtually no recognition from radio or MTV. In 1994, AMC issued San Francisco, an erratic collection which precariously balanced stark, moving confessions like "Fearless" and "The Thorn in My Side Is Gone" alongside slick pop constructs such as "Wish the World Away" and "Can You Help Me." When San Francisco failed to connect, American Music Club finally dissolved; in 1996, Eitzel issued his proper solo debut, 60 Watt Silver Lining, a collection of torch songs. At the end of the year, he and producer Peter Buck of R.E.M. returned to the studio to record 1997s West. In 2003, Eitzel and Vudi announced that American Music Club were reuniting, and following short tours of Europe and the United States, the groups new album, Love Songs for Patriots, was released in the fall of 2004, with more live shows scheduled in support. The group then relocated to Los Angeles, although Pearson and Mooney opted to stay behind in San Francisco. L.A. locals Sean Hoffman (bass) and Steve Didelo (drums) were enlisted to replace the two departing members, and the revised lineup set to work on The Golden Age, which was released in February 2008. | ||
Album: 1 of 14 Title: Engine Released: 1987 Tracks: 11 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Clouds (?) 2 At My Mercy (?) 3 Garys Song (?) 4 Nightwatchman (?) 5 Big Night (?) 6 Outside This Bar (?) 7 Electric Light (?) 8 Moms TV (?) 9 Art of Love (?) 10 Asleep (?) 11 This Year (?) | |
Engine : Allmusic album Review : AMCs sophomore release marks a significant advancement over The Restless Stranger, and offers more than a few of the bands definitive moments. Much of the due credit goes to producer Tom Mallon, who arranges the record with an intuitive grasp of the anatomical make-up of Mark Eitzels burgeoning songcraft; the rest of the credit belongs to Eitzel himself, who offers up some of his first truly great compositions. Chief among them is "Outside This Bar," a chilling portrait of the hermetically sealed comforts of the drinking life. | ||
Album: 2 of 14 Title: California Released: 1988 Tracks: 12 Duration: 39:20 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Firefly (02:51) 2 Somewhere (03:05) 3 Laughingstock (04:19) 4 Lonely (02:44) 5 Pale Skinny Girl (03:35) 6 Blue and Grey Shirt (03:33) 7 Bad Liquor (01:59) 8 Now Youre Defeated (02:31) 9 Jenny (02:41) 10 Western Sky (03:29) 11 Highway 5 (03:51) 12 Last Harbor (04:35) | |
California : Allmusic album Review : With the erratic California, Mark Eitzels songwriting skills blossom into full maturity. From the pedal steel-inflected opener "Firefly" to the luminous "Western Sky," the best of his compositions reveal uncommon depth and emotional heft: "Somewhere" cuts with the savage humor of a master storyteller, while "Blue and Grey Shirt," a memoir of a friends AIDS-related death, is simply devastating. A number of the cuts dont work at all -- the muddy "Bad Liquor" is an indecipherable rant, while "Laughing Stock" is by-the-numbers melodrama -- but those that do are nothing short of transcendent. | ||
Album: 3 of 14 Title: United Kingdom Released: 1989 Tracks: 9 Duration: 33:21 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Here They Roll Down (04:12) 2 Dreams of the Dream (02:59) 3 Never Mind (04:07) 4 United Kingdom (04:25) 5 Dream Is Gone (03:57) 6 Heaven of Your Hands (03:03) 7 Kathleen (02:21) 8 The Hula Maiden (04:56) 9 Animal Pen (03:19) | |
United Kingdom : Allmusic album Review : American Music Clubs first indisputably great album, the import-only United Kingdom is also the bands most spare and unsettling work. Originally conceived as a collection of site-specific songs (hence the opener, "Here They Roll Down," which samples the sounds of a freeway off-ramp), the LP instead cobbles together leftover material and live tracks which fuse together into a remarkably cohesive and balanced whole. Among the highlights: "Heaven in Your Hands" ranks firmly as one of Mark Eitzels most beautiful and unguarded love songs, while the lounge-flavored "Hula Maiden" finds the singer at his most perversely comic; the solo acoustic "Never Mind" details an emotional free-fall, while on the lush "Dreamers of the Dream," Eitzel clings to one of the records few rays of hope as though his life depended on it. | ||
Album: 4 of 14 Title: Everclear Released: 1991 Tracks: 11 Duration: 36:34 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Why Wont You Stay (02:59) 2 Rise (03:12) 3 Miracle on 8th Street (04:07) 4 Ex-Girlfriend (02:49) 5 Crabwalk (03:32) 6 The Confidential Agent (04:07) 7 Sick of Food (04:00) 8 The Dead Part of You (02:43) 9 Royal Cafe (03:24) 10 What the Pillar of Salt Held Up (02:37) 11 Jesus Hands (03:00) | |
Everclear : Allmusic album Review : Put simply, Everclear is American Music Clubs masterpiece. Benefiting immensely from improved production values, the album crystallizes the bands often erratic vision into a unified, endlessly complex whole. While the arrangements are typically diffuse -- "Crabwalk" is shambling rockabilly, "Royal Cafe" is sweet country-pop, and "Rise" is anthemic alt-rock -- there is a consistency of tone and a sense of place that runs through these songs that is absent from the bands other records. Similarly, Mark Eitzels compositions achieve an uncommon emotional balance, never once slipping into pathos or melodrama; the atmospheric "Miracle on 8th Street" and "The Confidential Agent" offer cinéma vérité evocations of relationships at the breaking point, while the brute force of alcoholic laments like "Sick of Food" or the funereal "Why Wont You Stay" is staggering -- never before or since has this loser been quite so beautiful. | ||
Album: 5 of 14 Title: Mercury Released: 1993 Tracks: 14 Duration: 49:36 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Gratitude Walks (04:17) 2 If I Had a Hammer (03:39) 3 Challenger (02:58) 4 Ive Been a Mess (04:27) 5 Hollywood 4-5-92 (04:15) 6 What Godzilla Said to God When His Name Wasnt Found in the Book of Life (03:42) 7 Keep Me Around (02:56) 8 Dallas, Airports, Bodybags (02:03) 9 Apology for an Accident (04:00) 10 Over and Done (03:08) 11 Johnny Mathis Feet (03:40) 12 The Hopes and Dreams of Heavens 10,000 Whores (04:23) 13 More Hopes and Dreams (01:58) 14 Will You Find Me? (04:06) | |
Mercury : Allmusic album Review : Leave it to American Music Club to make their major-label bow with the most perversely idiosyncratic record in their catalog. Produced with eccentric panache by Mitchell Froom, Mercury spotlights the band at their darkest and most eclectic, favoring odd rhythms, bizarre effects, and extreme arrangements ranging from the synthetic lounge grandeur of the worshipful "Johnny Mathis Feet" to the swirling sonic maelstrom of the fatalistic "Challenger." Under the cover of defense-mechanism titles like "What Godzilla Said to God When His Name Wasnt Found in the Book of Life," "If I Had a Hammer" and "The Hopes of Dreams of Heavens 10,000 Whores," Mark Eitzel paints some of his bleakest portraits to date; even the most superficially upbeat tracks -- "Keep Me Around," "Hollywood 4-5-92," "Over and Done" -- are relentlessly grim at their core. A triumph of abject misery. | ||
Album: 6 of 14 Title: San Francisco Released: 1994-10-04 Tracks: 15 Duration: 1:03:25 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Fearless (04:34) 2 Its Your Birthday (04:33) 3 Can You Help Me? (03:10) 4 Love Doesnt Belong (04:22) 5 Wish the World Away (03:10) 6 How Many Six Packs Does It Take to Screw in a Light (04:15) 7 Cape Canaveral (05:04) 8 Hello Amsterdam (03:28) 9 The Revolving Door (04:47) 10 In the Shadow of the Valley (06:28) 11 What Holds the World Together (04:44) 12 I Broke My Promise (03:37) 13 The Thorn in My Side Is Gone (04:41) 14 Ill Be Gone (03:56) 15 Fearless (reprise) (02:35) | |
San Francisco : Allmusic album Review : Regrettably, with their final effort, San Francisco, American Music Club went out with a whimper, not a bang. An undeveloped, erratic collection of songs, the record suffers under the weight of overly slick, commercial arrangements, and production which renders tracks like "Its Your Birthday," "Wish the World Away," and "Hello Amsterdam" as bland alterna-rock; only the effervescent "Can You Help Me?" manages to absorb and transcend its glossy pop veneer. Still, Mark Eitzel goes down swinging, conjuring a handful of haunting gems -- the best cuts on San Francisco, from the luminous opener "Fearless." to the achingly tender "The Thorn in My Side Is Gone," are also the most simple; AMC never needed adornment, just a sympathetic ear. | ||
Album: 7 of 14 Title: Hello Amsterdam Released: 1995 Tracks: 6 Duration: 21:55 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Hello Amsterdam (03:21) 2 I Just Took My Two Sleeping Pills and Now I’m Like a Bridegroom Standing at the Alter (03:54) 3 The President’s Test for Physical Fitness (03:51) 4 On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (02:26) 5 The Thorn in My Side Is Gone (alternate version) (04:57) 6 Elbow Deep (03:24) | |
Album: 8 of 14 Title: The Restless Stranger Released: 1998 Tracks: 15 Duration: 56:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Room Above the Club (03:52) 2 $1,000,000 Song (03:57) 3 Away Down My Street (04:22) 4 Yvonne Gets Dumped (03:18) 5 Mr. Lucky (02:44) 6 Point of Desire (04:31) 7 Goodbye Reprise #54 (03:56) 8 Tell Yourself (04:05) 9 When Your Love Is Gone (04:19) 10 Heavenly Smile (01:59) 11 Broken Glass (04:25) 12 Hold on to Your Love (02:21) 13 Restless Stranger (04:03) 14 How Low (04:23) 15 Im in Heaven Now (03:51) | |
The Restless Stranger : Allmusic album Review : The Restless Stranger is generally omitted from the official American Music Club discography; their first album, its existence was consistently disavowed by the bandmembers in press releases, interviews, and the like. Although it is by far the weakest release in the AMC canon, the album does have its merits; while the production and arrangements never gel with Mark Eitzels songs, there are fleeting moments here which hint at the eclectic brilliance to come. And already Eitzel is a sharp storyteller -- years later, he would reprise the opener, "Room Above the Bar," to heartbreaking effect in an a cappella version on his solo acoustic outing Songs of Love: Live in London. | ||
Album: 9 of 14 Title: Love Songs for Patriots Released: 2004-10-12 Tracks: 13 Duration: 1:01:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Ladies and Gentlemen (03:17) 2 Another Morning (03:21) 3 Patriots Heart (06:01) 4 Love Is (04:26) 5 Job to Do (05:03) 6 Only Love Can Set You Free (05:54) 7 Mantovani the Mind Reader (04:04) 8 Home (04:27) 9 Myopic Books (03:29) 10 America Loves the Minstrel Show (04:20) 11 The Horseshoe Wreath in Bloom (04:39) 12 Song of the Rats Leaving the Sinking Ship (04:20) 13 The Devil Needs You (07:37) | |
Love Songs for Patriots : Allmusic album Review : Reunion albums are often tricky affairs, usually based around negative circumstances (typically solo career slumps) rather than positive ones, so its neither uncommon nor unwise for fans to approach them with a degree of caution. When American Music Club called it quits in 1995, most folks were expecting an impressive solo career from vocalist and songwriter Mark Eitzel, but while he failed to capture the brass ring of a breakthrough commercial success (no great surprise, given the downbeat tenor of his music, though Warner Bros. seemed to be hoping otherwise at first), the greatest problem thats dogged him since AMCs demise has been his difficulty in finding a consistent set of sympathetic musical collaborators. Listening to American Music Clubs first album in ten years, Love Songs for Patriots, whats most immediately striking is the way the fusion of beauty and chaos generated by the musicians so ideally mirrors Eitzels songwriting, and how keenly their contribution has been missed in his solo work. While American Music Club was often regarded as Mark Eitzel and four other guys during their initial lifetime, the jagged panoramas of Vudis guitar and the patient but ominous report of Dan Pearsons bass and Tim Mooneys drums create such perfect settings for these songs here that you sense this was that rare reunion prompted by aesthetics above all else, and this album truly succeeds on a creative level. The absence of Bruce Kaphans evocative pedal steel work is felt (especially the way he at once buffered and strengthened Vudis pillars of sound), but Marc Capelles keyboards fill their space well enough, and while Eitzels songwriting has changed a bit since the last time American Music Club went into the studio (the dark sexuality of "Patriots Heart" and the first-person vignette of "Myopic Books" are the clearest examples), this band still knows more of what to make of his sensuous depression than anyone else, and both songwriter and musician bring out the best in one another on this set. Love Songs for Patriots isnt an American Music Club masterpiece in the manner of Everclear or Mercury, but its certainly a stronger and more coherent effort than the groups last set, 1994s San Francisco, and while its too early to tell if this is a new start of a last hurrah for AMC, it at least shows that their formula still yields potent results. Heres hoping Eitzel and Vudi have more where this came from. | ||
Album: 10 of 14 Title: A Toast to You Released: 2005 Tracks: 14 Duration: 59:36 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Why Won’t You Stay? (04:55) 2 Gratitude Walks on 6th St. (04:44) 3 Only Love Can Set You Free (05:29) 4 Another Morning (03:29) 5 Johnny Mathis’ Feet (04:12) 6 Patriot’s Heart (05:57) 7 Job to Do (04:49) 8 Home (04:25) 9 Myopic Books (04:45) 10 Amusing Interlude #1 (01:03) 11 Blue and Gray Shirt (04:06) 12 Outside This Bar (04:13) 13 Western Sky (05:42) 14 Amusing Interlude #2 (01:41) | |
Album: 11 of 14 Title: 1984-1995 Released: 2005 Tracks: 21 Duration: 1:16:56 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Sick of Food (04:01) 2 If I Had a Hammer (03:36) 3 Nightwatchman (04:48) 4 Outside This Bar (03:02) 5 Hold On to Your Love (02:21) 6 LA Is My Woman (demo for San Francisco) (04:19) 7 Laughing Stock (04:14) 8 Chanel #5 (Everclear B‐side) (04:18) 9 Firefly (02:52) 10 Challenger (02:58) 11 I Always Knew (demo for San Francisco) (04:05) 12 Away Down My Street (live at Hotel Utah) (04:11) 13 Kathleen (live at Hotel Utah) (01:57) 14 Sleeping Pills (demo for San Francisco) (04:00) 15 Memo From Bernal Heights (Mercury B‐side) (03:33) 16 Western Sky (03:29) 17 Why Won’t You Stay (02:59) 18 Last Harbor (04:35) 19 Love Connection NYC (demo for Mercury) (04:08) 20 I’m in Heaven Now (Human Music Compilation) (03:20) 21 Confidential Agent (Everclear rough mix) (04:02) | |
Album: 12 of 14 Title: Atwater Afternoon Released: 2008 Tracks: 13 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 City Lights (?) 2 All My Love (?) 3 For the Good Times (?) 4 Im Your Puppet (?) 5 Long, Long Walk (?) 6 Little Joy (?) 7 One Step Ahead (?) 8 Who You Are (?) 9 All the Lost Souls Welcome You to San Francisco (?) 10 Insiders Guide to Life (?) 11 Hello Amsterdam (?) 12 Home (?) 13 Western Sky (?) | |
Album: 13 of 14 Title: The Mercury Band Demos April 1992 Released: 2008 Tracks: 12 Duration: 46:54 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 What Godzilla Said to God When His Name Wasn’t Found in the Book of Life (04:13) 2 If I Had a Hammer (03:48) 3 Will You Find Me (04:03) 4 The Amyl Nitrate Dreams of Pat Robertson (03:41) 5 Challanger (02:52) 6 Gratitude Walks (04:06) 7 Crystal Always Knows (03:06) 8 Apology for an Accident (05:02) 9 Love Connection NYC (04:13) 10 In My Role as the Most Hated Singer in the Local Underground Music Scene (04:12) 11 Keep Me Around (03:27) 12 The Hopes and Dreams of Heaven’s 10,000 Whores (04:07) | |
Album: 14 of 14 Title: The Golden Age Released: 2008-02-04 Tracks: 13 Duration: 55:07 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 All My Love (05:10) 2 The John Berchman Victory Choir (02:52) 3 Decibels and the Little Pills (05:41) 4 The Sleeping Beauty (03:58) 5 The Stars (05:17) 6 All the Lost Souls Welcome You to San Francisco (02:43) 7 Who You Are (04:31) 8 Windows on the World (06:11) 9 One Step Ahead (03:33) 10 The Dance (03:17) 11 I Know Thats Not Really You (03:52) 12 On My Way (05:13) 13 The Grand Duchess of San Francisco (02:46) | |
The Golden Age : Allmusic album Review : The news is that Mark Eitzel and Vudi have resurrected American Music Club for the first time since 2004s Love Songs for Patriots (which was in turn the groups first album in a decade), but they havent gone terribly far out of their way to do it -- while pedal steel player Bruce Kaplan was absent from the Love Songs lineup, on 2008s The Golden Age, Eitzel and Vudi are the only holdovers from the bands original membership, with debuting bassist Sean Hoffman and percussionist Steve Didelot completing this new, leaner edition of AMC. While Love Songs attempted to evoke the grand, noisy soundscapes of albums like Everclear and Mercury, The Golden Age harks back to the more arid atmospherics of California and United Kingdom, and it does so quite well. Anyone hoping for a big dose of Vudis fractured guitar heroics will go wanting as he aims for a more subdued tone on most tracks, saving his more outré effects for the codas of "On My Way" and "The Windows on the World." But this is easily the best set of songs Eitzel has offered since his 2001 solo effort, The Invisible Man, and his vocals are in superb form; while much of his work since AMCs breakup seemed to find him looking for a new direction, these 13 songs are just the sort of thing he does best, compelling tales of lost souls and busted hearts that reveal as much compassion as despair, and he delivers them with a weary but heartfelt authority that few others could match. And if this album doesnt break much new ground or challenge anyones expectations of American Music Club, it also offers a clear and honest reminder of why this band made so much vital, lasting music during its original lifetime; The Golden Age may simply be the Eitzel and Vudi show, but thats more than enough to make this a rich and rewarding set of songs whose gentle surfaces belie their troubling strength. |