April 19, 2001

Everclear : Songs From An American Movie, Vol Two: Good Time For A Bad Attitude

US rockers continue, mystifyingly

5 / 10 At the risk of sounding like the kind of Mississippi schoolmistress who blushes at the word 'evolution', you have to wonder just how trustworthy Darwin's theories were. While there are blips in all areas of life - the possible existence of Bigfoot, the rich and strange wildlife of Madagascar - few things cast more suspicion upon the whole survival-of-fittest concept than the continuing career of Everclear.

Art Alexakis, Craig Montoya and Greg Eklund are the rock equivalent of those strange and slimy creatures who skulk at the bottom of the sea, never quite getting it together to pull themselves out of the water on their fin-legs, but eking out a reasonably happy plankton-eating existence all the same. Nu-metal might well be the world of the Neanderthal, but Lord knows,
it's a successful tool-bearing leap forward compared with the melodic grunge good-humour
of Everclear.

Tracks such as 'All Fucked Up' and 'Babytalk' sum up their genetic blueprint lyrics that just skirt the edge of dumb; a sunny nature that cannot be blotted out by their attempts at angst, and a toothless rock smile that was looking a little backwards five years ago.

"I don't want to be a loser any more", sings Alexis, grasping for irony on 'Rock Star'. "That's why I want to be a rock star".

If the silver-suited alien übermenschen who created
us are watching, they'll be in hysterics.

Victoria Segal