American Music Club
Review of their gig in The Village, Dublin, 3 October 2004
Review Snapshot:
In a year of amazing comebacks and successful, hatchet-fully-buried
reunions the return of American Music Club sent many a true music fan into
rapturous delight. Their recent gig in the Village was a nicely balanced
run-through of their redoubtable back-catalogue and and a selection of new songs
that reveal that the magic is still there. Welcome back, Mark Eitzel and
American Music Club...
The
CLUAS Verdict?
9 out of 10
Full review: One day, a long time ago, a friend made up a compilation tape for me. Such
was his impeccable music taste, this now seminal tape introduced me to the likes
of Red House Painters, Felt, The Replacements, The Pastels and... American Music
Club. Despite the esteemed company they were in, it was AMC I kept returning to
again and again. They had a strange, probably unique sound: an odd mixture of
drunken bar-room blues, skewed alt-country and off-kilter, doom laden yet
melodious rock. At the heart of this was Mark Eitzel, chief songwriter and
emotional epicentre of the band. This was a man who seemed to reluctantly carry
the weight of the world on his shoulders. He could also write lyrics that were, at once, heartbreakingly sad yet laced with a wry, self-mocking humour.
So seeing Eitzel in the flesh is a bit like seeing your favourite uncle, whom
you once thought had met his demise many years ago, is actually very much alive.
He projects such a compelling onstage presence you can, at times, forget this is
actually a reformed AMC show, not an Eitzel solo outing. There's Tim Mooney and
Dan Pearson providing the no-nonsense rhythm section and to Eitzel's left the
mysteriously monikered, frighteningly thin Vudi, throwing out strange guitar
shapes to compliment Eitzel's soaring melodies.
Eitzel assures us early on that they're not one of those bands "that pisses off
the audience by just playing new material" so we're treated to a generous
re-visits of past classics. The wonderful 'If I Had A Hammer' still sounds as
vital as it did on that tape, the bruised splendour of 'Sick Of Food' still
enthrals and 'Western Sky' is still quite possibly one the most beautiful,
perfectly composed pieces of music ever created. There's a new political anger
here too, evident in new songs they play from their recently released
long-player 'Love Songs For Patriots'. On 'Ladies and Gentlemen', it's
interesting to see Eitzel, like so many other American artists and musicians at
the moment, taking a break from singing of their own personal woes and instead
turning their attentions to what the morally bankrupt Bush Administration is
doing to the world.
For the encore there's a blistering, thunderous run-through of the brilliant
'Challenger' and that's it. Sometimes the subtle emotional intricacies of their
music were lost in a muddy sound-mix but that just sounds churlish. If they came
on and played using only a selection of kitchen appliances and utensils as
instruments, it would probably still be a revelatory experience. This IS
American Music Club after all.
Feel free to discuss this review on our
Indie Music Discussion board.
