Songs From An American Movie Vol. 2: Good Times...

11/14/2000 4:42 PM, Yahoo! Music
Bob Gulla

It's easy to confuse loud with attitude, or loud with energy, or loud with angry. Just because a song's got overdriven guitars and ride cymbals that'd drive a collie out of his mind doesn't mean it's got emotional punch. It's like the Texan who speaks louder when a foreigner can't understand him. It just ain't gonna happen.

On his follow-up to the pleasantly sophisticated Beatle homage, Songs From An American Movie, Volume One, Everclear's Art Alexakis makes this mistake early and often. Sadly, his transgressions hurt the overall quality of this allegedly aggressive disc, the second in a two-volume series.

Don't be mistaken: there are some powerful moments here, especially the punk-rock-inspired "All F--ked Up," the guitar-fortified radio song "When It All Goes Wrong Again," and the blues-fused "Misery Whip," which sounds like a cross between Zeppelin and Muddy Waters. In the end, though, too much bluster prevents Alexakis and company from hitting the nerve center of truly emotional music, begging the question: why didn't the band just combine the best of Volume 1 and Volume 2?