Everclear

So Much For the Afterglow (Capitol)
by Jon Sarre

“As Sparkle and Fade was more personal, intense and adventurous than its predecessor, World of Noise, So Much For the Afterglow again takes another leap.”
Some Hack At Capitol Records’ P.R. Department

Am I the only one around here who finds Everclear control freak A.P. Alexakis’ dirty laundry-airing-as-a-career songwriting tendencies kinda, I don’t know, crass? I mean, the guy made a cool mint offa dead girlfriends, suicide attempts and white trash drug hell the last time around. Now, on So Much For the Afterglow, he’s taken a real “adventurous” “leap” and tackled topics like his absentee dad (“Father of Mine”), more girls (“White Men in Black Suits”), more drugs (“Amphetamine”), oh, here’s a good one, Prozac (“Normal Like You”), and more stuff I don’t care about (there’s ten other songs on this record, take your pick).

What’s gonna come out of the Art Painmill by album #10 (if it goes that far; there’s something funny ’bout a guy who writes a song called “One Hit Wonder” that’s obviously not about himself. Is that balls or not knowin’ whose face that is in the mirror?): “I Struck Out in Little League”? “Junior High Pimple-Boy”? “I Wasn’t Voted Most Likely to Succeed So Now I Hate Myself and Want to Die”? Artie’s shrink oughtta remind him once in a while that he’s a rich fuckin’ rock star and maybe he should please shut the fuck up and get fat or something, or at least write a happy fuckin’ stupid pop song! Shit, the guy’s already retired the Henry Rollins Award For Exploitation of One’s Upbringing For New Material! Christ, not even Courtney Love is that shameless!

All that said and done, I often wonder if reviewing new-releases from packaged alt-rockers like Everclear serves any purpose other than to secure gratuitous print ink for said shitty record. Praise it or curse it, Joe Blow CD buyer knows it’s out there. The dirty work is half done cuz Joe thinks Everclear rocks, dude, and he’s gonna buy the new product no matter what some snotty fanzine writer, who talks about stuff Joe’s never seen on MTV, says about his particular name brand genre of choice. So here it is Joe, So Much For the Afterglow, one man’s heart on his sleeve, his hand in yer pocket, and as unpredictable as the sunset. Rock on!
(150 Fifth Avenue, 9th Fl. New York, NY 10011)