Odds and Ends
Meet The Eels
Featuring: The Eels
Written by: Justin Pearsall
Published: Mar 31st '08
It’s strange to think that Mark Oliver Everitt (E) has been at it for 12 years. While listening to and watching the accompanying video for ‘Novocaine for the Soul’ you may notice the distinct ‘90s aesthetic about it (as if you’d flip the channels and have to choose between Friendsand Seinfeld). Yet, the song itself is quite timeless. A decade-plus on it occupies a strange place as a single that can be viewed now as a 90’s classic, yet still feels remarkably original.
And thus presents the major quandary about assessing a 24-track best-of from a talent as prodigious as that of E. The variety that makes E a great artist and The Eels a great band – this ability to harness aspects of Hip-Hop, hard rock, blues, electro and classical orchestration all under the guise of listener friendly pop music – is the same variety that causes his best-of to be a necessarily rag-tag affair.
It’s not that there is anything wrong with the individual tracks that were chosen to comprise the release. On the contrary, the material chosen represents a mix that will appeal to the more casual fans of The Eels, featuring a heavy rotation of singles from the band’s six albums (including ‘Susan’s House’, ‘Flyswatter’, Mr E’s Beautiful Blues, Souljacker Part 1 and ‘Hey Man [Now You’re Really Living]’). Likewise the in-between tracks are some of the best moments from The Eels’ catalgoue. However The Eels, like the best modern bands, are not an act defined by their singles. It’s the full experience of immersing yourself in their albums proper which defines E’s talents and The Eels.
That said this collection is built for those who are the more fleeting fans of the band. Hopefully, though, when they’re through wearing out the regulars the strength of the other material will lead them to seek out the albums. As such the argument isn’t against how The Eels and their record label have delivered the best-of, but that a band as album-orientated as The Eels need a best-of at all.
