Pitchfork

Beyond the melodies that don't stick in my head and the beats that don't make me want to dance, the only real problem with Souljacker, Eels' fourth album, is that it just seems like an underachievement. I've never been a big fan of artists who play it cool on record: that is, appear to toss off musical ideas when their fans, their press releases and even signs hidden in their own music suggest they should be doing a lot more. Take someone like Prince: a guy with talent to burn, and without the pressure of having to establish himself or compromise his art to appease a greedy record label-- so why am I lucky to get even two decent jams per album from him since about 1987? Similarly, artists like Eels, led by frontman E (Mark Oliver Everett) seem like they have a wealth of raw material to work with, yet are often content to settle for middle-of-the-road filler-pop.

If Neutral Milk Hotel suddenly got a million bucks to record at the best studio in L.A., with access to hundreds of studio musicians and music-biz insiders, I'm not sure it would make the music any better. Mangum takes odds-and-ends and a four-track and makes incredible music anyway. I think the key is that he started with good songs and expanded from there, whereas bands like Eels just seem to be dumbing down every aspect of their stuff for who knows what purpose. I hope it's not to get radio play, because if so, it isn't working. I haven't heard much Eels on my FM dial since their modest 1996 hit "Novocaine for the Soul."

Opener "Dog Faced Boy" starts innocently enough, with a faux lo-fi glam guitar hook and primal drumming. E's raspy vocals still sound a bit thin to my ears, which doesn't help when delivering ominous lines like, "Ma won't shave me/ Jesus won't save me, Dog Faced Boy." Wher the shakers come in, I wonder whether this was supposed to be single material-- something that might appeal to those ornery Gen-X rascals. "That's Not Really Funny" picks things up with its good-natured carnival-band hook, and more faux lo-fi guitar. (If you're wondering, I keep making the 'faux' distinction because it's hard to imagine any album funded by Spielberg and company being forced to use bad amps or equipment.) It could be a good effect-- just ask Beck-- but again, the tune and the wacky atmosphere just aren't interesting enough or their own to give Eels the benefit of the doubt. And, when they're dropping lines like, "You say a lot of funny things, my little bunny," just to get a rhyme for the chorus, things take a turn from the underachieving to the just-plain-sad.

I don't want to dwell on the negative (even though the VH1-approved 'sophistication' of "Woman Driving, Man Sleeping," and the fake punk of "What Is This Note" do their best to force me to). Eels car occasionally turn out a nice tune-- exhibit A is the squeaky clear "Fresh Feeling," with its tasteful orchestration and (this is important) strong melody. It probably won't win them any indie points, as it's closer to an Alanis-style ballad-with-a-beat than to NMH, but it might conceivably have a life beyond this record via adult-contemporary radio. Exhibit B is the surprisingly potent one-two punch of "World of Shit" and "Souljacker, Part II." The former takes some melodramatic piano lines, subtle productions tricks like bells playing backwards and nice string lines, and manages to overcome some seriously unfortunate lyrical choices ("Let's get married, and make some people"). This leads into the latter track, a short, dreamy tune featuring mellotron and actual lo-fi ambience! Well, I suppose that could have been injected in there to appeal to the, you know, underachieving indie crowd or something, but it sounds okay. The point is, even when the results are middling, at least Eels never sink into lame radio-rock clichés.

Ultimately, though, I'm left with the feeling that a band that displays a fine grasp of orchestral pop and baroque studio flourishes on some tracks should be delivering something better than Souljacker. It could be that since most of the songs don't have great melodies (and supplant them with odd, fluffy lyrics), any attempt to juice them up with lightly eclectic production was doomed from the start. Then again, if you're going to show everyone your cards and demonstrate that you can come up with good melodies and neat production, it seems a waste not to capitalize on it for the whole ride. As it stands, Eels are still in the middle of the pack for underachievers-- I'll take Prince's last album over this one.