The Beat Surrender

The Guardian once described Mark Eitzel as “America’s greatest living lyricist” which is some compliment to pay somebody. Now these things are always open to debate an opinion so I’m not going to dwell on that too much, other than to say that lyrically this album is fantastic, however it was the actual music that surprised me more than anything.

I wasn’t really much a of a fan of American Music Club when they were at the height of their critical powers, even their reformation in 2004 and the new album that followed (Love Songs For Patriots) didn’t really do much for me, despite it being said in some quarters that, them not The Pixies reforming was the most important reunion of the decade.

Still just because you aren’t a fan of a solo artists band that they front doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate their music, as I’m sure the legion of Bjork fans who were never really into the Sugarcubes will testify. Until this point though I’d had no inclination to check out any of Eitzel’s solo material, which having listened to Candy Ass I can safely say I now have.

This is the sixth album he has recorded as a solo artist and is the first new material from him since 2001’s The Invisible Man. Eleven of the twelve tracks on here are written by him, the only one that isn’t entirely his own work is Green Eyes which is a collaboration with Calexico, continuing the strong bond between the two. That track is understandably one of the highlights on the album, it manages to sound both jaunty and windswept at the same time, then builds to a dramatic crescendo, before finally finishing on a simpering vocal.

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