EELS
Eels Time! (Play It Again Sam)
We should all be thankful that E, aka Mark Oliver Everett, is still here with us, given his well-documented history of family trauma, and his recent open-heart surgery. Matters of the heart, space and time prevail on this umpteenth Eels album, Eels Time!, and optimism and sangfroid shine through.
Dating song Goldy, with its chugging riff and skittering beat, would have slotted nicely onto either of his 90s slacker rock classic albums; Sweet Smile is a gorgeous love letter (“The first time I saw her face, sent me into outer space, and I haven’t been back since”) followed by a potent guitar solo. Everett’s Beatles fandom comes through in the mellotron of Haunted Hero and the pretty melody of I Can’t Believe it’s True, while And You Run is a melodic chapter close to turn-of-the-millennium Eels cut Jeannie’s Diary.
On some of the more pedestrian songs, like Lay With The Lambs, I wish they’d scruff things up in grungy Souljacker style, but overall we’re lucky that Eels are still around – so Let’s Be Lucky is an apt album closer.
words CHRIS SEAL