Everclear – Black is the New Black (2015)
After years of cocking about trying to make arty pop, it appears that Everclear have finally rediscovered the joy of blasting out grunge-inspired, foot-to-the-floor riff rock. The format on album no. 9 is very reminiscent of the band’s ‘90s hey-day: simple arrangements, wall of sound guitars, sugary hooks and bitter-sweet, walking-wounded-and-lost-in-the-world tales of frontman Art Alexakis’s horrendous childhood, addiction and various broken relationships (a pick ‘n’ mix of fuck-uppery, if you will). And it is a joyous trip. Opener ‘Sugar Noise’ is built around a sucker-punch riff and a kiss-of-life chorus, ‘Pretty Bomb’ is a big burst of ‘Bleach’-era Nirvana and ‘The Man Who Broke His Own Heart’ is up there with the very best alt.rock can offer, an instant Husker Du on Venice Beach burst of pop-rock brilliance. Some things grate a little – Alexakis has a tendency to drop into the self-help twaddle recovering addicts like to spout (‘Anything is Better Than This’) - but this is the heaviest Everclear have sounded in years, and they feel rejuvenated for it.
It’s not big, it’s not clever, but when something is this raw, honest and delivered with a knack for storytelling you can’t help but gravitate to it.
After years of cocking about trying to make arty pop, it appears that Everclear have finally rediscovered the joy of blasting out grunge-inspired, foot-to-the-floor riff rock. The format on album no. 9 is very reminiscent of the band’s ‘90s hey-day: simple arrangements, wall of sound guitars, sugary hooks and bitter-sweet, walking-wounded-and-lost-in-the-world tales of frontman Art Alexakis’s horrendous childhood, addiction and various broken relationships (a pick ‘n’ mix of fuck-uppery, if you will). And it is a joyous trip. Opener ‘Sugar Noise’ is built around a sucker-punch riff and a kiss-of-life chorus, ‘Pretty Bomb’ is a big burst of ‘Bleach’-era Nirvana and ‘The Man Who Broke His Own Heart’ is up there with the very best alt.rock can offer, an instant Husker Du on Venice Beach burst of pop-rock brilliance. Some things grate a little – Alexakis has a tendency to drop into the self-help twaddle recovering addicts like to spout (‘Anything is Better Than This’) - but this is the heaviest Everclear have sounded in years, and they feel rejuvenated for it.
It’s not big, it’s not clever, but when something is this raw, honest and delivered with a knack for storytelling you can’t help but gravitate to it.
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