The news is that Mark Eitzel and Vudi have resurrected American Music Club for the first time since 2004's Love Songs for Patriots (which was in turn the group's first album in a decade), but they haven't gone terribly far out of their way to do it -- while pedal steel player Bruce Kaplan was absent from the Love Songs lineup, on 2008's The Golden Age, Eitzel and Vudi are the only holdovers from the band's original membership, with debuting bassist Sean Hoffman and percussionist Steve Didelot completing this new, leaner edition of AMC. While Love Songs attempted to evoke the grand, noisy soundscapes of albums like Everclear and Mercury, The Golden Age harks back to the more arid atmospherics of California and United Kingdom, and it does so quite well. Anyone hoping for a big dose of Vudi's fractured guitar heroics will go wanting as he aims for a more subdued tone on most tracks, saving his more outré effects for the codas of "On My Way" and "The Windows on the World." But this is easily the best set of songs Eitzel has offered since his 2001 solo effort, The Invisible Man, and his vocals are in superb form; while much of his work since AMC's breakup seemed to find him looking for a new direction, these 13 songs are just the sort of thing he does best, compelling tales of lost souls and busted hearts that reveal as much compassion as despair, and he delivers them with a weary but heartfelt authority that few others could match. And if this album doesn't break much new ground or challenge anyone's expectations of American Music Club, it also offers a clear and honest reminder of why this band made so much vital, lasting music during its original lifetime; The Golden Age may simply be the Eitzel and Vudi show, but that's more than enough to make this a rich and rewarding set of songs whose gentle surfaces belie their troubling strength.
A century or so ago, George Sterling, poet laureate of San Francisco, referred to the town as his "cool gray city of love." Legendary Bay Area newspaper columnist Herb Caen used the term on many occasions, but it came to mind after listening to The Golden Age, the latest - and surprisingly lovely - album from singer-songwriter Mark Eitzel's dark-hued confessional-folk-rock band American Music C...
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A century or so ago, George Sterling, poet laureate of San Francisco, referred to the town as his "cool gray city of love." Legendary Bay Area newspaper columnist Herb Caen used the term on many occasions, but it came to mind after listening to The Golden Age, the latest - and surprisingly lovely - album from singer-songwriter Mark Eitzel's dark-hued confessional-folk-rock band American Music C...
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The American Music Club have been one of my favorite bands since I first heard California back in the late '80s. They've got a new album due out February 19 and it's very strong. In other words, I'm playing it over and over. Here's a track off it.
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Mark Eitzel’s latest is a really good one, The Golden Age out in February on Merge Records. Here’s my Dusted review which ran last week.American Music ClubThe Golden Age(Merge)There's a moment in "One Step Ahead," about two minutes into what seems a fairly unthreatening, literate pop song, when things take a dramatic turn. The close harmonies slip a half-step closer and turn to discord, the d
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San Francisco based rockers American Music Club will release ??The Golden Age??(Merge) February 19, the follow up to 2004's ??Love Songs For Patriots??, explains a spokesperson for the band.In support of the new album, the group will be touring from coast to coast this Spring (dates below).??The Golden Age?? Track Listing1. All My Love2. The Victory Choir3. The Decibels and the Little Pills4. T...
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San Francisco based American Music club have announced they will release ??The Golden Age?? in February 2008. The album is proceeded by 2004's ??Love Songs for Patriots??(Merge), which broke the group's ten year hiatus.AMC mainstays Mark Eitzel and Vudi team up with "the new guys" Sean Hoffman and Steve Didelot for this the 9th full length recording from American Music Club.From the group's bl...
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Thanks to Stereogum for the 411. New Album coming from AMC. "The Golden Age" drops on 2/19/08. Until then, please enjoy "All The Lost Souls Welcome You To San Francisco"
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 "The Golden Age")
