Customer Reviews

San Francisco

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

there are countless critics out there claiming that "San Francisco" is American Music club at their most commercial, hence this is allegedly their worst record but frankly I absolutely disagree. Just because the production is a bit more "slick", it doesn't mean that the band's skills have become less important (or less notable). Ok, there's a definite alternative-feel throughout the record while their previous efforts were more "indie" and maybe AMC were consciously changing direction but they're a great band and on San Francisco, just like on any of their records, it shows! Mark Eitzel is great as usual and there are great songs all over the album...

This album says so much about leaving somewhere, that I feel incapable of saying anything about it. Mark Eitzel comes back to Columbus enough that I can feel him leaving every time he does. "I Broke My Promise" is a beautiful song about getting out. The rest of the record doesn't betray the aetheic laid out by their previous ones: loss, regret, loss, and regret (and then some, uh, loss). Much of this is from Mark Eitzel's sad lyrics, but, still, much has to be said for Bruce Kaphon's pedal steel, and Vudi's fuzzy guitar. For a long time AMC fan, this is probably their mosty accomplished work, emotionally and musically.

San Francisco rarely leaves my cd player. It is a particularly fine album, which more people should have bought when it came out. The American Music Club are dear-departed, but the music is more alive than almost anything these days.

Henry David Thoreau said "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them." American Music Club has made a career out of proving him wrong. Mark Eitzel and cohort are full of quiet desperation, but their song is out there for all to see, and San Francisco is a great place to start listening to AMC.

The new listener will gravitate to the fast numbers like "Wish The World Away" ("Don't watch TV, it's all lies/I watch TV day and night"), and "It's Your Birthday," which include catchy hooks among Mark Eitzel's quiet howls of desperation.

But what's he desperate for? This isn't an album of "oh, nobody likes me and I just want to be loved," but rather an exploration of isolation, of not belonging in the world around him. One senses that American Music Club view themselves as separated from society and live on the edges. This isn't a group that wants to be a part of that society, though...at least not on the surface. Deep inside, this is truly music of longing, of desire...as rich and strong as any that came before.

But they also have a curious apathy about life itself--"Sometimes it's good to be alive, sometimes it's all right" they sing. Not for nothing have some called American Music Club's music 'sadcore.' But there's also something welcoming about these tracks. The rich lushness of the music along with Eitzel's mournful voice invite you to sit down with them at the seedy corner bar of life and commiserate about life's personal injustices, albeit in a supremely poetic fashion.

And just like those guys at the corner bar, there are flashes of humor here and there, self-deprecating as it may be. Nowhere is this more true than on "Hello Amsterdam," a first person tale of playing ABBA covers in a Netherlands club. The pathos is muted by the absurdity of the situation, and it's among the album's highlights.

Other great songs on the album include "Can You Help Me" and "Cape Canaveral," but really, there's not a miss in the bunch.

American Music Club is leading a career of quiet desperation, no doubt, but the song is out there to be shared. An excellent album.

Admittedly I love anything AMC has put out. "San Francisco," though, is a truly wonderful package of tunes. It's the one I recommend to friends who haven't listened to AMC before. PERSONAL FAVORITE SONGS: "Can You Help Me?" and "What Holds the World Together," which, with their poetry and uplifting tunes both sit among the best of the Mark Eitzel-penned tunes that I've heard. This band's music is intelligent and well-crafted--the kind of music you don't necessarily hear all of the first time you put it in the player (i.e. always worth a second, third, etc. listening).

Admittedly I love anything AMC has put out. "San Francisco," though, is a truly wonderful package of tunes. It's the one I recommend to friends who haven't listened to AMC before. PERSONAL FAVORITE SONGS: "Can You Help Me?" and "What Holds the World Together," which, with their poetry and uplifting tunes both sit among the best of the Mark Eitzel-penned tunes that I've heard. This band's music is intelligent and well-crafted--the kind of music you don't necessarily hear all of the first time you put it in the player (i.e. always worth a second, third, etc. listening).