�Elektra were gonna give us a 300,000 dollar distribution deal through Frontier so we had full artistic control. Then they saw a video of an interview I gave and said they�d never want anybody on the label saying the kinds of things I was saying � I might put down my own band and stuff, but it�s not true. I think we�re the best band in the world, sincerely. Majors approach us, get scared shitless, and then retreat!� American Music Club are scary � hence the ancedote above, told by Mark Eitzel, the band�s leader and self- proclaimed �ugly, balding geek�.Eitzel writes AMC�s scary songs that plumb emotional depths and soar to heights of melancholic oblivion. As they say in San Francisco, AMC�s home, the band have �an attitude problem�. Problem is, they haven�t got an attitude. Only three years old, AMC � Eitzel (guitar and vocals), Vudi (guitar), Dan Pearson (bass) and Tom Mallon (drums and producer) � have already made two seminal albums: �Engine� (1987) and the current LP, �California�. �Engine� (which was preceded by their �Restless Stranger� LP that�s now hard to find) is an astounding record. It�s tough and tender, mining veins of human desperation and alienation too deep for most songwriters to find, let alone excavate. But then Eitzel is no ordinary songsmith. He calls himself �a regional songwriter, writing about the Bay area�, but that doesn�t explain why his songs, regardless of arrangement and delivery, are so intense and driven � generally to despair. A telltale lyric: �Once I knew the secret of happiness, but now it�s gone.� �California� is notably less aggressive than �Engine�. Its pacific sleeve and acoustic bent, accentuated beautifully by yearning pedal steel in places, tell their own story. Eitzel�s songs are about relationships � often messy affairs � but ultimately, their honesty and humility is uplifting. Eitzel explains the difference between �Engine� and �California�. �We tried a lot less hard to make it sound as good, we just sorta winged it. The hardest music to do is slow and depressing � and it�s the hardest to listen to,� he laughs. �Tom said the problem is that �California� is too precious, while �Engine� is too bombastic.� �We all recorded in isolation from each other,� adds Pearson. �And that�s why it worked, because all we could do is sit there and listen to each other while we played. Tom�s and my conception of the album had a lot to do with the power of something you hear coming from the other room � suggesting something different from the blatant and obvious.� �Laughing Stock� is prime �California�. Its bald tagline, �The laughing stock proves the world is made of rock�, reflects Eitzel�s insecurities. �Tom and I hacked and burnt the whole thing: he kept wanting to cut things out. It started out twice the length it is.It�s very gentle, but I�d like it to be more so � get all the rock out of our songs and have this incredibly pale, insignificant thing.� A large part of AMC�s embryonic legend is their curious live reputation. Eitzel is notorious for abusing himself and the audience, haranguing at will. �We�re weird,� muses Eitzel. �Sometimes we�re really good and sometimes we�re really boring. We opened for some major acts in San Francisco and we were scared being on such a big stage, but seeing the other acts, we just wondered how they got to be �major�. All three, including us, had miserable singers.� �We played a shopping centre in Santa Rosa, a little town � pretty scary!� recalls Pearson. �But we moved people. They�d never heard anything like it in their lives� there were only four walk-outs, which is pretty good. When we play San Francisco we play to the same small circle of friends. We know them but they won�t talk to us, they just leave afterwards.� Eitzel dismisses the band�s considerable impact on the indie press with, �I guess we�re well-publicised � I don�t understand it, but hell, I play along. I�m not exactly star material, I don�t dress well � I don�t care� I�m not exactly likely to succeed in any form, but I don�t care. None of this shit matters; anything I could ever say in an interview is a grey area, has no relevance to what I really do.� �California��s content varies widely from the gutter rock of �Bad Liquor� (a late addition at the behest of the band�s followers) to �Jenny�, a particularly poignant ballad. Eitzel, on form, merely says �I�m the same dumb asshole in both songs�, but you know that, deep down, he draws far finer distinctions for himself. Likewise, Eitzel�s claim that �California� was chosen out of numerous possible titles because it�s �the stupidest� belies his dedication to capturing the essence of his environment. He says: ��Engine� was gonna be the big rock classic that everyone�ll love until they die� but, of course, it wasn�t, so we gave up and made �California��. But �Engine� is a classic. And both albums are ones to adopt and live with. Though Eitzel frequently denigrates himself and his songs in interviews, no one is more aware of American Music Club�s importance than he is. Eitzel�s American Dream may be darker than the norm but is no less compelling. His well-drawn, simple vignettes sum up much about a nation and a generation adrift in delusion and disillusion, not to mention dissolution. �I only wanna play songs for people that are hungry for songs,� Eitzel explains. �Us opening for Sonic Youth would be like, as Vudi said, Bob Dylan opening for the London Philharmonic. Sonic Youth are awesome, but I wanna play songs, �cos that�s what sustained me for years� forever, actually. I�ve always loved songs. �We played the Fillmore, a big show, and I didn�t understand this whole sheep mentality � a thousand people crowding in to see a main band that don�t give you anything. They�re afraid of giving you their heart. They�re up there singing about the devil, or hate, or modern angst, and those are all non-subjects as far as I�m concerned! I was thinking, Christ, if this was my crowd I�d give �em something! They probably wouldn�t like it, or stay for it, but I�d try my ass to do it!� Eitzel warns that he�s �got stuff written for another three albums� and, were it commercially viable, would gladly make AMC�s next release nine sides long. He has a lot to get out. Bemused by people�s perceptions of AMC, Eitzel finished on a humorous note. �They drove us out to a graveyard to take our pictures today and I was, like, really dubious! I thought, Hey, c�mon! We�re trying to smile, get out of it somehow but� look, if you�re gonna set me up as an Ian Curtis clone at least make me 23, alright!� Mark Eitzel is 30. Return to homepage here |
| Club Class |
| By Ralph Traitor for Sounds March 25th 1989 |