Customer Reviews

Love Songs for Patriots

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3 star:		(1)
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After American Music Club split up around ten years ago, Mark Eitzel, while making many lovely albums, never sounded very optimistic in interviews about putting his old band together again. A sad fact that one of the best bands of the mid-80s to the mid-90s, with one of the most consistently brilliant outputs, could only gather heaps of critical praise while never diminishing their heaps of unsold albums. Luckily the boys, although without their wonderful pedal steel player Bruce Kaphlan, have decided to try again with a new piano player. How to describe the new album? Well, comparing this album to their old albums does not work very well. Instrumentally it has the most similarities with Restless Stranger or Engine although has neither the awful 80s new wave sound of the former or the minor key brashness of the latter. Gladly, they have produced something with a familiar uniqueness. I welcome any output from AMC; however, their product from 2004 with many fine songs lacks the same homogenous consistency of gorgeousness as Engine or Mercury.

When first hearing that the Bayside boys had a new album in the making and that I could sample the first two songs on the album, _Ladies and Gentlemen_ and _Another Morning_, off their website I faced the prospect with slight trepidation. I love AMC but matching their previous output proves a great challenge. So, I sucked up the fear and listened to the songs. Much to my surprise those two songs make up some of the highlights of the album. The first, a jazz flavored song instructing people to getting rid of their hate, has a nice defeated optimism about it along with a 60 Watt Silver Lining-ish feel, except with a quicker tempo. The second song, a more acoustic number, has the wonderful lyrics I have come to expect from Eitzel with some excellent accompaniment from Vudi and the rest of the band. Some other highlights include _Myopic Books_, _Mantovani the Mind Reader_, and _Horseshoe Wreath in Bloom_, which all combine a kind of playful sarcasm with an underlying resignation. The much prevalent, but often overlooked humor always found in Mark's songs shines on those three numbers with a love-the-loser pathos. _Patriot's Heart_ burns with verbosity and anger and passion, throwing tons of imagery out there with no discernable hook, producing one of the finest moments on the album out of unadulterated intensity. Similarly, _Home_ carries a cynicism that makes it stand out, particularly in the choruses. All the aforementioned songs have nice piano flourishes with their own ambient charm that fill in nicely where pedal steel used to go.

Aside from those songs the rest of the songs don't have anything that special about them. Not bad songs really, just not great and they get shadowed by the other good songs. Tracks like _Love Is_, _Job to Do_, _Only Love Can Set You Free_, and _Devil Needs You_ have a kind of tepid quality with occasional hints of something better, although no hooks or non-ephemeral greatness last when the songs end. They bring down the album a little with their transience, although maybe I haven't listened to the songs enough to really appreciate their nuances.

Overall a good CD with many songs rivaling anything in the AMC catalogue unfortunately with a little weakness during mainly the middle portion of the CD. Hopefully this band gets a little bit more recognition and keeps putting out more CDs. They haven't run out of beautiful material yet. I remain hopeful that they keep improving.

On Love Songs for Patriots, American Music Club's mood is as dark as ever, but infused with the hope of redemption. Filled with yearning and distorted dreams delivered in the most beautifully poetic lyrics, the first three tracks Ladies and Gentleman, Another Morning and Patriot's Heart set the lugubrious but defiant tone for this masterpiece.

The drinking song Ladies and Gentleman is achingly moving in its juxtaposition of the pain of living with either truth or with lies. Patriot's Heart, about a male stripper, is a masterpiece of conflicting emotions, cynicism blended with compassion and understanding. Wow, this approach is something else, so unique and stirring.

There are also gentle and tender moments like Another Morning, an inspiring song about shaking off bitterness and depression, framed in a lovely melody and pop orchestration. Another highlight, and one with a sprinkling of humour, is the gentle ballad Myopic Books. The delicate track Love Is reminds me of their gem of a song Firefly from an earlier album, whilst Only Love Can Set You Free is an appealing love song.

The last two tracks, Song of the Rats Leaving the Sinking Ship and The Devil Needs You, are quite ambiguous and may be interpreted on both a personal and universal level. The latter is over 7 minutes long and combines a powerful drum pattern with delirious keyboards and horns to conclude the album on a high note.

As with the rest of their oeuvre, Love Songs For Patriots is not easy listening for everybody, but if you love the kind of redemptive sadness often found in the work of artists like Nick Drake, Leonard Cohen, Richard Thompson, Peter Murphy, Swans, Michael Gira's Angels Of Light, Nick Cave, Emmylou Harris or Jane Siberry, you will love this welcome return by American Music Club.

It's slightly difficult. Mark Eitzel's run-on, rhymeless, occasionally semi-monotone vocal style and Vudi, with his drifting, non-top-40 structured guitars, can always be a challenge at first listen. But, wow, the lyrics and underlying melodies here are stronger than ever, and the production amazes throughout, with the essential mood of each song reflected and reinforced in the backing musical textures. Eitzel's dramatic voice, intelligence, insight and humor explode and enchant, reach into your heart and calm or move you, or smack you with passionate sarcasm to a sincere grin. It's truly incredible that, after 10 years, the band can mount a comeback with what I think is their best album ever. It's one of those rare releases you want to play again and again because you want to rediscover each song and take in "the whole" as a work of art each time. Absolutely no top 40 hits here. Zero. But not one bad song. It's a stunning painting or a complex and stirring novel to the ears.

A completely expected return to form for those who have followed Mark Eitzel's career since the disintegration of AMC. Said gentleman's songwriting skills have only improved since then, as evidenced by a string of stellar solo albums; truly the only thing that's been missing is the backing of his old band. This release sounds great to me after only 3 or 4 listens, can only imagine how much I'll love it a year from now. It's still a crying shame that Mark and the boys have never gotten anywhere near the level of appreciation that they deserve, I guess this stuff is just too honest for most.

I was really hoping this album would completely blow me away. But by AMC standards, it's bordering on mediocre. I have problems with the songwriting and the overall production of the album. First off, the songwriting: Eitzel needs to stop recycling lyrics and lyrical ideas. Also, it'd be nice if he could come up with a different fingerpicking pattern; he's been using the same one for twenty years now. Overall, these songs sound underdeveloped. Compared to other AMC work, they're like rough demos. Each song has great potential, but they just sit on simmer and never reach a boil. The one exception that immediately comes to mind is "Ladies and Gentlemen". This song is exciting and has the life you'd expect from Eitzel and company. "Patriot's Heart" is the one song I consistently skip over. It's easily twice as long as it should be; the music just repeats itself over and over and over. Tchad Blake or Joe Chicarelli (previous AMC producers) would have never let this slip by, which brings me to my next point. AMC should not be allowed to produce themselves. They're the only band I say this about, but they are truly a band that needs a good producer to bring out their brilliance, in addition to good recording and mix engineers. The arrangements and ideas on "Love Songs" are quite interesting at times, but they just don't completely work. For instance, the band is trying for swirling dissonant chaos on a few songs, but it just comes out as cluttered mud, due to Tim Mooney's mediocre recording and mixing skills. And Eitzel's voice needs to be deep and full, like on "San Francisco", but it just sounds dull on "Love Songs". Also, I was hoping his vocals would be as good as they were on his last release, "The Ugly American". But they're quite flat on most of this album (yes, I know they're always flat, but this is worse than usual), and there are a few moments where it sounds like he's guessing and searching for notes to sing. Which is quite appalling, considering the fact that they recorded for free at drummer Tim Mooney's studio. They had as much time and as many takes as they needed, yet guitars are out of tune, some performances are rather sloppy (i.e. the guitar on "The Devil Needs You"), and Eitzel's vocals are quite subpar.

So, as you can see, I'm quite disappointed with this album. But, with all of that being said, it's still one of the best releases over the last few years (which have really sucked). Songs like "Another Morning", "Mantovani the Mind Reader", "Home", "Myopic Books" (so beautiful, even with consistently flat vocals), and "Song of the Rats Leaving the Sinking Ship" are gorgeous, even if they don't live up to their amazing potential.

It's a sad state we are in today when critics and fans prop up snot-nosed skinny emo-boys like Conor Oberst, hailing them as the next Dylan while the American Music Club CD catalog sits in record store bins, gathering dust. Front-man Mark Eitzel, unlike the afore mentioned Oberst (aka Bright Eyes) has truly loved and lost and lived to tell about it. Middle-aged and world-weary, Mark Eitzel has been spinning out some of the world's best damn introspective songs for the last 20 years. And it is a true shame that we had to live without this band for 10 of those years. To fellow AMC fans, and from the reviews posted here I know I am in good company, I say this is a must own record. It is better than their last record, San Francisco, and not quite as good as their masterpiece, Mercury. This record took several listens to grow on me, but like many of my favorite records, it is well worth the effort. I also managed to catch AMC on this tour and they still put on an amazing show. If you have a chance to see them live I highly recommend it. The only thing missing from this record is the beautiful weeping pedal-steel guitar of former member Bruce Kaphan but that is almost made up for by the wonderful keyboard work of new member Marc Capelle. The rest of the members here are also in top-notch form. All musical bases are covered here: rock, jazz, country, folk and lounge music and unlike many of today's acts who claim to wear their heart on their sleeve, the sound is genuine.

As with all AMC albums, it takes a few listens for the songs to gel, but when they do, it is an exquisite experience. Love Songs ranks up with Mercury and Everclear among AMC's best (I can't go so far as the incadescent California, though a few of the tracks come close). Highlights are the lovely and wistful "Another Morning" which like AMC's best starts quietly and builds to a wrenching climax; Job to Do and Home are rousing and reflective. Patriot's Heart seethes with anger and Myopic Books is quiet meditation on loneliness that stays with you. Eitzel proves yet again that he is a master songwriter, and his voice belies living through the heartache/disenchantment he sings of. For a band that was broken up for ten years, it is amazing how timely and tight they are; I can only hope this is not the LAST AMC album.

It's always a sad thing when great bands break up. It seems like the bad ones never seem to get the point. I'm talking to you Nickelback! At least we lost Creed and now we have American Music Club back. So the universe of music craposity we are living these days has scored two points towards the positive. This is not quite the masterpiece of Mercury or Everclear but still a wonderful record. You could do much worse. The "out of tune" singing is not really an issue. That's part of the charm of Mark Eitzel. Either he's doing it on purpose or just doesn't give a rat's. That's what makes him great. It's punk, dudes! He makes the music he wants to make and sings the way he wants to and plays with some cool dudes. Glad to have Vudi back in the picture. That crazy stuff he did at the end of "Heaven's 10,000 Whores" on Mercury is positively brilliant and that kind of witch-doctor "how'd he do that?!" stuff is back on this record as well. The album does drag a bit in the middle and I can ride in Mark's slow-mo drink-a-thon stylings for hours but it seems a bit much even for die-hards. At least it peps back up towards the end. As far as getting a new fingerpicking style as Captain Vocabulary says in another review, that's just silly. Mark has a great style. Would haved like to have heard more Dan Pearson vocals too. Check out earlier works for some great examples of how well Dan compliments an idiosyncratic singer like Mark. Expand your horizons and buy this record but only after you buy Mercury first. Thank goodness for bands like this. Thank you Merge records for putting this out.

"If you want to see something patriotic, there's a stripper..."


Mmmm...if your favourite band comes back after 10 years away, it seems fair to say that your hopes and dreams are going to be stacked fairly high. It is testament to this most princely of bands that one of the most special moments of my life -yes, my life - was watching them on stage in Manchester early 2005 and realising that at last they finally looked and sounded in a live setting like what they actually were. The best band in the world. Most of what they played that night came from this album.


"...He don't look that good but he's got an all-American smile..."


This is the longest AMC album and while it isn't quite the best (we're talking degrees here)it is magnificent and deserves its place in the story of this classic band.


"...That fills his underwear with all the lonely dollars from all the lonely men who no-one ever suffers..."


'Ladies And Gentlemen' kicks things off in stirring fashion despite being better in its demo form (another story)before the first of many AMC classics here: 'Another Morning'. Specifically it is another tribute to Eitzel's life-long muse, the late Kathleen Burns but to you and me it is another example of how Eitzel's specific is tellingly personal. The person at the heart of this attack ("Someone does you wrong, you give away your life to prove it/You wear your pain with pride, you refuse to remove it...")cannot see past themselves, cannot experience the simple perfection of waking up next to your loved one and loving how everything at least for that moment feels right.


"...It is so red, white and blue the way he works the bar..."


'Only Love Can Set You Free' is the worst song title I can think of by this most gifted of songwriters but even then the song itself is brilliant. Okay, it's really just a great re-working of 'The Revolving Door' but I don't care. You write a song that great, you can re-write it the rest of your life as far as I'm concerned. And great lyrics: "But if the blow that knocks you out is the one you don't see/Then why are you fighting?"


"...Selling his embraces like Mr President or a fallen star..."


The song that is forming a link throughout this review is called 'The Patriots Heart'. It is, I genuinely believe, the finest, most complete, most stunning song Mark Eitzel has ever written. Complex politics made personal, made real. A specific gay stripper ("...and after a few tequilas I become something holy") in a specific gay bar ("...in this crappy little bar/With its sweating mirrors and its mildewed ceiling") and then the song...And a return to ideas of everything and me and you.

But then there are the others...

And do you really want to read other people's minds after 'Montevani The Mind Reader', and do you really want to be Mark Eitzel after 'Home', and do you really want to know what Dinosaur Jr album would be playing in the prayed-for bookstore in 'Myopic Books' and what Saul Bellow book would be bought there...and kind of so on...sort of suggesting this is the best music in the world currently out there.

I could listen forever and then write some more...

'The Horseshoe Wreath In Bloom' rattles along in its own country/americana way with its glorious freeze-frame of alcoholism/sadness..."Funny red nose and Rudolph jokes...memory failing..."

The final two songs are slow. Which is probably as it should be. American Music Club is back. Only occasionally are bands this great.

You and all that kind of thing have to be what it's all about, the greatest part of life. This band and this songwriter fill in the blanks...