Published on Jan 15, 2001
When we last heard from Art Alexakis and crew, Everclear were
Learning How To Smile
through the more introspective, softer songs of the series
they called
Songs From An American Movie. The second volume (which we’ll
refer to by its subtitle,
Good Time For A Bad Attitude), makes sure that Alexakis and
his bandmates are pissed off, plugged in and cranked up. And while
this disc is a perfect complement to the first volume (there’s
reasons that other critics have said Alexakis should have released
this as a double CD), Everclear seems more themselves when they are
in full shred mode.
Oh, it’s not that threre’s nothing that radio would touch on
this disc. Obviously, the fact that “When It All Goes Wrong Again”
is getting played disproves that – yet I wouldn’t have chosen that
to be the first single. Instead, I’d have gone for “Rock Star,” a
tongue-in-cheek look at wanting to become big and gain all the
“perks” that come with the gig. It could well be that Alexakis is
trying to poke holes in that dream – and if this song doesn’t do
it, the following track “Short Blonde Hair” surely does.
“Short Blonde Hair” seems to capture where Alexakis and his
bandmates were at their near-boiling point, trying to deal with the
sudden pressures of success and havin each and every moment of
their lives scrutinized and publicized. I have to go out on a limb
and say this is pretty much autobiographical for Alexakis, baring
his soul in the only way he’s truly comfortable doing so.
At times, it feels like many parts of
Good Time For A Bad Attitude talk about the near-breakup of
the band around the time of
So Much For The Afterglow (that is if VH-1’s special on
Everclear was accurate, and I have no reason to doubt it). Still
others feel like Alexakis looking back at his own life, be it
marriage (“The Good Witch Of The North”) or dealing with all the
problems he’s faced through the years (“All Fucked Up”), but he’s
able to use his words to paint a picture that any listener can not
only understand, but relate to. This is why Everclear has become
such a fan favorite in the last few years.
The only criticism I’d lay on this disc is the closing song,
“Song From An American Movie, Pt. 2”. On “Pt. 1” on
Learning How To Smile, I liked the folk-ish direction that
the band had the track moving in, especially with the use of
mandolin. On the closing chapter, it tells more of the story (and
again feels like a look inside Alexakis’s life and seeing how he
wishes certain chapters were different – and how some should never
change), but it’s done in a more electric setting. Sorry, Art – I
know you don’t really give a shit what critics think, but I
honestly wish you had stuck with the folk-like elements to close
out the story. It just
felt right.
Still,
Good Time For A Bad Attitude is a pleasant disc that
sometimes outshines its brother in crime, and is yet another
feather in Everclear’s collective cap. How Alexakis and crew will
top this one has yet to be seen… but why worry about that
now?