“With your hand over your heart and your boy scout face you win a new merit badge for a weakness for faith for a love of strangers for a love of dangers that most people don’t feel because they don’t really feel they’re like tables and chairs they’re like forks and knives they’re like plains and trains hear ‘em bump in the night and their souls aren’t talking they just wash up on the bank and there their souls are beautiful…”
-To The Sea
Nobody writes songs like Mark Eitzel, lead singer of American Music Club. The Invisible Man holds up with the best of his work. The songs are sad, glad, funny, bitter, intelligent and intensely human. His honesty springs from a place in each of us that few of us like to go to, a place where we make mistakes that are not easily redeemed, where we stand naked and ashamed knowing the face we show the world is as much a stranger to us as it is to everyone else. They are great songs. He has modernized his sound without losing any of its soul.
The Boy With The Hammer
Mark goes in a different direction on this song. There is a dance beat, with ominous piano and electronic effects. The lyrics are strange and poignant. “…and then the Colonel starts playing tambourine- it was so funny we’re rolling- we were laughing in the face of the pain of the family next door too fucked up to feel anything.” The chorus is simply, “if that’s what you want- well its nothing.”, which lends itself to a few interpretations.
Can You See
This is a pretty, fleshed out song. Instruments include trumpets, keyboards, horns, organ, guitar, a lovely Bass Clarinet and a (non-Elizabeth) Wurlitzer. It stands out against the simplicity of the other songs. He sings of love in terms that only he can.
“…your bumping wings with far too many others wearing your outfit that you stole from your endless supply of reflections and self disgust and you don’t have any belief in whats worth your love and trust so you scatter your riches like a mirror ball that’s covered in dust with the vain understanding that some of the light would stick…”
Mark sings the song very intimately. His delivery fits his words well. The chorus, “the truth is that I’m happy when I’m with you”, says a hell of a lot with few words.
Christian Science Reading Room
This is an interesting song. I would say more, but the Christian Scientists might read it and come bust my ass up.
Sleep
A fair amount of electronic effects on this song. It is sung softly, a contrast to his live version which was passionate and intense. Wonderful words throughout the song, including the outstanding “goodness is not some pretty picture you paint - its shaking your fist into the face of danger”.
To The Sea
I quoted this to open the review. This is one of those songs that I listen to and feel like The Unbeatable Karate Hero. The song is based on a simple and strong piano. The lyrics are sung like a reporter, passionless but still vulnerable. I wish I didn’t understand the last lines so well.
…you thought I was busy well I was just busy running running from your beauty some run from the devil some from their own history some run from their hopes and some run to the see. Stupid don’t you agree?”
The song conveys waves crashing with a relentless urgency.
Bitterness
A Mark Eitzel song named Bitterness is a sure bet for a good song. It starts solemnly, breaking into a dance groove that features a keyboard sound “invented by Vudi” according to the liner notes. The music is upbeat and the lyrics are dark. If you want to dance to the words “I don’t know if I will ever love again.” sung with a matching stark piano under a dance groove over and over, then this song is for you. It is outstanding.
Anything
A beautiful song sung wonderfully. What he does with the music is so interesting that I can’t do it justice by describing it. Just listen to it closely.
Without You
This song reminds me of Mark’s American Music Club days. He shows how rich and beautiful his voice is in one of his best vocal deliveries. The horn section is used effectively. The lyrics are sad and lovely. It is a great song to continue to avoid quitting smoking again to.
The Global Sweep Of Human History
Classic Eitzel lyrics on this song.“…if you dismiss me with a smile I’ll break all your teeth and all your fun if you dismiss me with a frown I’ll make sure you never forget your pain if you dismiss me with a frown if you dismiss me with a frown I’ll crawl like a virus through your brain…”
Excellent acoustic guitar and continued electronic embellishment. It is sung pained and emotionally. I can’t say enough about how he realizes his lyrics through his music on this album, particularly on this song and “Anything”.
Proclaim Your Joy
He wrote this in five seconds as a joke, and it is an outstanding song. Imagine R.E.M’s “End of the World as We Know It” written intelligently and done as a good song and you get the idea. There is a rapid fire intelligence and humor in the lyrics, the delivery is fun. AMC’s Vudi plays great guitar, the ever present electronic music adds so much, and Mark sounds like he is having fun. A great way to end the disc.
I recommend this cd highly. In this world where the music industry in intent on killing itself by restricting what we hear and how we access it, it is almost impossible for people to get exposed to the people out there making music that means something. You probably won’t hear Mark Eitzel on Clear Channel or see him on MTV. It is a damn shame, because artist like him are really what make this country great. We miss out on these additions to our cultural heritage in our rush to see the next commercial and catch the next buzz phrase.
Check out his outstanding website: http://www.markeitzel.com
Thank you.
