Over its first three albums, the West Coast band Everclear provided consistent, fairly simple, breezy, catchy, modern rock with relatively few frills. On SONGS FOR AN AMERICAN MOVIE VOL. 1, the threesome, fronted by the outspoken, charismatic Art Alexakis, suddenly finds frills galore.The album opens on a country note with the short, soft ballad title track, before kicking into a zippy, hip-hop flavored "Here We Go Again," replete with Chuck D samples. "AM Radio" uses Jean Knight's 1971 classic "Mr. Big Stuff" to back an infectious exploration of late night radio listening long before the advent of MTV, followed by an almost breakbeat-meets-Celtic folk re-working of Van Morrison's classic "Brown-Eyed Girl." "Unemployed Boyfriend" and leadoff single "Wonderful," reminiscent in both flavor and theme to SO MUCH FOR THE AFTERGLOW's "Father of Mine," are closest to Everclear's traditional sound, while "Otis Redding," a sweet, retro power ballad, stands out as one of the most sincere and sublimely lovely songs the band has created. SONGS FOR AN AMERICAN MOVIE, VOL. 1 finds Everclear experimenting as much as ever with satisfying results.
Track Listing
1. Pt. 1 Song from an American Movie
2. Here We Go Again
3. A.M. Radio
4. Brown Eyed Girl
5. Learning How to Smile
6. The Honeymoon Song
7. Now That It's Over
8. Thrift Store Chair
9. Otis Redding
10. Unemployed Boyfriend
11. Wonderful
12. Annabella's Song
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So Much for the Afterglow
Everclear continue to ride the wave of Pacific Northwest grunge that brought them their original success. Mixing three-chord rock and straightforward lyrics about the seamier side of Generation X, Everclear achieve an earthiness that the Foo Fighters and other grunge survivors aim for but never quite seem to attain.Leader Art Alexakis sings about people besieged by unfortunate circumstances. When he sings "They have never been poor/They have never had the joy of a welfare christmas" In "I Will Buy You A New Life", he makes his characters' plight real with the understanding and insight of someone who's been there himself. Some of the most effective moments come when he draws on his own experiences; his absentee father and his mother's nervous breakdown are each the subject of powerful songs, and when he sings "You wouldn't even know me since you went away" in "Normal Like You" it is unclear whether he is talking about his father, an old friend, or himself.
Track Listing
1. So Much for the Afterglow
2. Everything to Everyone
3. Ataraxia (Media Intro)
4. Normal Like You
5. I Will Buy You a New Life
6. Father of Mine
7. One Hit Wonder
8. El - (TRUE instrumental) Distorto de Melodica
9. Amphetamine
10. White Men in Black Suits
11. Sunflowers
12. Why I Don't Believe in God
13. Like a California King