yhwman's Full Review: Daisies of the Galaxy [PA] by Eels
Prior to this, the third Eels album, life was all very dark with the Eels. Electro Shock Blues, the previous Eels album, was a bit to depressing for my tastes. Their debut was somewhat more upbeat but the overall mood was still down. Thankfully on their third album things have cheered up somewhat. To quote Mark Everett (AKA Mr E), singer/guitarist with the band ‘Two songs on this album have the word Daisies in the title, neither have the words “Pushing up” in front.’
The overall style of the Eels has remained fairly consistent however, if somewhat hard to put into words – I’ll give it my best though. Take perfect pop (St Etienne type stuff), add a dash of alternative and then do the whole shebang in a lo-fi style. Sparse production, dry vocals, vibes, drums and a guitar are all regularly used Eels ingredients. Anyway, back to the album.
Standout tracks are Grace Kelly Blues, a gentle brass and acoustic guitar strum-a-long which sets the tone for most of the album. Flyswatter is another great track, vibraphone and broody bass make for a song that wouldn’t be out of place in a Tim Burton film. A Daisy through Concrete is an almost light-hearted song that appears to be about getting over death, something Mr E has had a lot of to deal with. Finally there is the stomping (And inexplicably not mentioned on the case) track, Mr E’s Beautiful Blues, the first single to be taken from the album. It’s a definite return to form for the band, and I’d even go as far as saying their best work yet.
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