"Gonna shake the house," rasps Mark 'E' Everett on "Bombs Away". It is the first track of his tenth album and it certainly sounds like a statement of intent. Everett has often come across as something of a gloomy rock and roll runt in recent years, but this time around the worm appears to be turning and he ain't taking any cotton-pickin' nonsense any more.
It is pleasing to note that the lyrics definitely have a gutsy, defiant optimism about them, albeit alongside Everett's usual misery: "watching the death of my hopes", he sings on the Johnny Cash-tinged, countrified sob story "On the Ropes". But this is Everett fighting back against life's slings and arrows and heading for "The Turnaround", a deft piece of bayou blues with something of Robbie Robertson about it.
The music, played with taut-yet-supple aplomb by his new band, is no major departure from Everett's well-established mix [3] of the modern and olde worlde Americana that has worked so well for him in the past. The aforementioned opening track is so deliciously demented it sounds like a Vic and Bob parody (in a good way), featuring everything from kazoos to moody organ, noirish guitar and a corncrake vocal that evokes Beefheart and Tom Waits. Elsewhere there are melodic echoes of everything from The Beatles [4] to The Stranglers [5].
Everett always cuts a dash in the flesh, with a penchant for vintage clothes and eccentric accessories such as chunky cigars and walking sticks, and the best moments on Wonderful, Glorious has a similar panache, unashamedly retro but also distinctly offbeat. Proceedings conclude, typically perversely, with the perky title track, which suggests a brighter future for the singer. I hope for his own sake he does stay happy. Though if he succeeds I wonder whether he will still be as wonderfully, gloriously creative as this.
Watch the video for "New Alphabet" from Wonderful, Glorious
Links
[1] https://theartsdesk.com/users/brucedessau
[2] https://www.addtoany.com/share_save
[3] http://www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/eels-o2-academy-brixton
[4] http://www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/arena-beatles%E2%80%99-magical-mystery-tour-revisited-bbc-two
[5] http://www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/stranglers-roundhouse
[6] http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wonderful-Glorious-Eels/dp/B00A18KBUK/ref=sr_1_1
[7] http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/Eels-tickets/artist/779733
[8] https://theartsdesk.com/node/2123/view
[9] https://theartsdesk.com/node/2787/view
[10] https://theartsdesk.com/node/17186/view
[11] https://theartsdesk.com/node/29739/view
[12] https://theartsdesk.com/new-music
[13] https://theartsdesk.com/topics/america
[14] https://theartsdesk.com/topics/1980s
[15] https://theartsdesk.com/topics/cds/dvds