There is an expansive list of semi-star rock bands popular enough to keep selling records until their lead singer overdoses, but not popular enough to stamp their group's logo on the forehead of the American music visage. Eels is one of those bands.
Possessing just one hit single, "Novocaine for the Soul," from 1996's tender and foxy "Beautiful Freak," and a moody sophomore effort, "Electro-shock Blues," Eels have yet to break out of their cocoon and fly into a mainstream butterfly net. Fortunately for music lovers uninterested in seeing Eels in the company of N'Sync and Britney on TRL, the band's latest release, "Daisies of the Galaxy," proves it has no intention of molting.
"Galaxy" is a blueprint of modesty and charm. The disc is so delicately embroidered with elements of the band's first two albums that Eels' consciousness of their craft is frightening. Written and produced by A Man Named E and drummed by Butch, this collection of soft guitar balladry and calm, edgy ranting is both mundane and refreshing.
In "I like Birds," E builds his verses on the song's title, discarding rocket launches and all other things complex and manmade in favor of his earthly fixation. Whistling and neatly plucked strummed tones accompany E while he addresses his feathered friends. It is his truth-telling, his Puritan-like self-scrutiny and his unornamented writing that hold "Galaxy" up.
The disc's opener, "Grace Kelly Blues," uses two rum-pum-pum-pum horn phrases, sandwiched between lenient guitar melodies. The drumming leaves room for E to rant, "Royal families don't have time for that s-," as he describes a woman who gives up acting to become queen. Next, he writes of a lonely man in a tractor-trailer who is "truck drivin' the black night away." E sews these two unrelated subjects together using his unrelenting humanity, showing compassion - whatever the cost.
The entrance of strings in the title track adds a dramatic twist to E's nature-walk, but by mid disc it is a welcome surprise. E flexes his vocal chords a bit during the chorus before settling in to the best line and high moment of the album: "I thought some daisies might cheer you up," he says as silence inundates the background.
The clever rhyme of "ice water" and "flyswatter" is reason enough to listen to the unusually-titled "Flyswatter," and "It's a Motherf--r" has E pitting two extremes against each other - conservative piano tunes and unashamed cursing - creating a convincingly ambiguous emotion in the process.
After a short instrumental track, the pace picks up again with "Tiger in my Tank." For a moment, the chorus melody apes the jingle from Folgers Coffee "Best part of waking up" advertisements. Once the amusement of Folgers' nostalgia dissipates, however, "Tiger in my Tank" becomes the only low-point of the otherwise appealing "Galaxy."
"Wooden Nickels" upholds the graceful formula of opening tracks, providing an ample helping of E's lyrical introspection and advice, as he cautions his audience not to "take any wooden nickels when you sell your soul."
If there are people who don't like Eels, they at least must envy the band. Trapped in a world of greed and conformity, E and Butch are willing to sit on a park bench at the bottom of the charts, staring at the sparrows, playing their song. These men are at peace with their art, and we are the beneficiaries.
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
