cdm72's Full Review: Sparkle and Fade by Everclear
Normally, I despise music of the Look At What a Horrible Life I've Led variety. Can’t listen to Korn, Disturbed, Poppa Roach, or Staind for these very reasons. Like Denis Leary said so well, “Life sucks, get a f**kin’ helmet.” That tortured, self-absorbed, melodramatic crap doesn’t cut it with me. So it stands to reason I should dislike Everclear’s SPARKLE AND FADE with lyrics like “We could find a town, be just how we want to be / No one here really cares about us anyway” (“Summerland”) and “Now I know why ever since I was 3 years old / Been having the same nightmare” (“Queen of the Air”). But, dammit, much as I wish I could, I don’t. I love it.
I got this CD before I even knew who Everclear was. A friend said he’d ordered it from a music club. They sent him 2 copies. He gave one to me. Okay, I like free things. I put it on and wasn’t OVERLY impressed, but I dug what I heard. Then I heard those few solemn, groovy notes, and that voice moaning, “I am still living with your ghost...”
Hey, I knew this song. Sweet. Been an Everclear fan ever since.
Everclear, named after Art Alexakis’s favorite liquor, formed in 1992 and soon released their first record WORLD OF NOISE, which combined some new stuff with the songs on their first EP. In '95, they got a new deal with Capitol and released SPARKLE AND FADE.
Anyone who knows anything about Everclear knows singer/guitarist Art Alexakis is the brains behind the operation. Having one focused writer in the band helps bring a solidarity to the tracks. The subjects may vary, but the tone, rhythm, and phrasing is consistent. Unfortunately, this can sometimes make the tracks blend into each other. There are 14 songs on SPARKLE AND FADE. A good half of them sound just like one another. I’ve had this record since 1996 and off the top of my head, I couldn’t give one clue to what “Her Brand New Skin” sounds like. Same with “Chemical Smile”, “My Sexual Life” and “Pale Green Stars.” All of these songs come in on the second half of the disc, and their anonymity doesn’t say anything bad about them as songs, only that after a while, the record tends to wear out its welcome. This is probably because there’s only 1 song that ventures into 4-minute territory while the majority are stuck in 2-minute-land, leaving the listener, after a while, inundated with song after song after song, none of which stick around long enough to make a solid impression.
But put in the CD, hit random, and the album will please the listener, no matter where it lands.
It’s strange that such mediocre musicians should release such a good record. Alexakis has admitted before he doesn’t know how to play guitar, but he does know how to get it to make the sounds that are in his head. It’s a method that works for him.
And no one will ever accuse him of being an award-winning volcalist. But his barely adequate skills work within the songs. It’s not a perfect world, but you make do with what you’ve got. The performances are a reflection of this philosophy.
I won’t attempt to categorize SPARKLE AND FADE with such labels as grunge, punk, or whatever. It’s a rock record, simple as that. It’s not a GREAT one, but it is very good.
As I said before, the tone of the record is a dreary one. But every once in a while, Alexakis throws in a line that, as a writer, you step back, look at a second time, and think, “Nice.” “You Make Me Feel Like a Wh*re” is a fantastic lyric. And the alliteration of “With my big black boots and an old suitcase” from “Santa Monica” still makes me smile. “She is perpetual Kathy / All shake and happy in her brand new skin” is a very strange phrase. But it works. Another favorite is from “Chemical Smile” “She says Jesus owes her money / She says the angels are her friends / Now what the hell does that mean?”
Notice two of those quotes are from the songs I couldn’t remember.
Neither of the other two members, Craig Montoya (bass) nor Greg Ukland (drums) make much of a splash here, Alexakis pretty much owns the record, letting us all in on his tortured, self-absorbed, melodramatic life. Normally I hate that crap. But Everclear ain’t normally, and Alexakis takes something annoying and makes it something you want to listen to.
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