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8 |
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Eels |
| Useless Trinkets: B-sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased |
| Geffen | 2007 | Album |
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What dogs me as a constant issue when considering The Eels and their place in popular/alternative music, is how in the world anyone can simply know them for their very brief, nova-like, MTV hit, “Novocain For The Soul.” A brilliant song, yes, but it came in the last nadir of great alternative, when albums were albums and they had some amount of staying power. More specifically, the pressing conflict tends to evolve into how Beck, he of the ‘stellar’ MTV career, is primped up as a Dylan-esque savior, pop culture savant, while Mark Oliver Everett is cast into the obscure lights.
The fifty tracks and six videos collected on Useless Trinkets: B-sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased won’t make the case for mastery (and shouldn’t: they are as random as their ephemeral title suggests) but they should at least persuade some listeners to split that thorny genius title. Mark Oliver Everett’s harsh, undeniably man-sourced growl is the honest everyman, a voice that seems to weave art house tales in a longshoreman’s bar. All wrapped in melancholy moods, witty quips that would leave They Might Be Giants feeling jealous, Everett has steered the Eels to a strange place in modern rock: dynamic, talented, and wrongly viewed as the children of influence, rather than a potential spawn for the next generation.
A smattering of b-sides and rarities, while not the quintessence of virtuosic display can be a barrel of monkeys; Useless Trinkets proves to be just that. Everett gathers multiple versions of favorites (the ubiquitous “Novocain” in two remixed costumes and the vastly underappreciated “Dog Faced Boy”) creates odd thematic elements (three songs about Christmas and two about Dogs?) and covers some fantastically random tracks (try Magnapop’s “Open the Door” an exciting re-casting of gender, or Screamin’ Jay Hawkin’s “I Put A Spell On You” on for size) and comes out with a worthy record. Sure, there are omissions (“I Write The B-Sides”) and throw away filler, but the sheer bulk of what sits in the Eels closet makes for a good point: this is one of the best bands working right now. While Useless Trinkets isn’t necessary, life changing listening (if it has been a while, try re-embracing 2001’s Souljacker or even better the moody, child of personal strife, Electro-Shock Blues) it helps make the case.
Great bands can conjure where others wait for trains.
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| Erick Mertz |
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