E's The Man
Eels frontman Mark Everett wants you to know how, why, and when he's been hurt. The only permanent member of the long-running alt-rock outfit, the man professionally known as E details the sources and aftermath of his pain in the recent memoir, Things The Grandchildren Should Know.
Given that Eels' first, and still biggest, radio hit featured E pleading for a shot of "Novocaine for the soul," the sad facts of the singer's life shouldn't come as a shock. But that doesn't make them any easier to read about: a dad dead at 47; a sister who committed suicide; a mother's painful death from cancer.
Even with the grim subject matter, Grandchildren works best as literature when it stays within the melancholy nooks and crannies of Everett's psyche and away from the more mundane details of his music. The way Everett hones in on specific moments is particularly impressive. Whether it's the realization that his drug-addicted sister has become a racist or the unexpectedly tender care he provides for his mother during her dying days, Everett has a gift for using these instances to convey larger feelings about the people involved. It's in these snapshots, the ones that have no direct connection to music, where Everett comes across as a clear-eyed and emotionally affecting writer.
The parts of the book that focus on Everett's career suffer by comparison. As is so often the case when musicians become authors, too many breakthroughs are presented as mere eureka moments of the shallow, "Then one night . . . I had an epiphany" variety.
Everett even comes across as a bit of a curmudgeon when writing about the money hungry expectations of record company folks and the burden of fickle fans. So the record industry is filled with people who care more about turning a profit than producing a masterwork? Fans get annoyed when you don't play your hit? Shocking!
Thankfully though, Everett's memoir is more about the man than the music biz. So even if the book is not quite as moving as my favorite Eels album, 2005's gorgeous, meandering double CD, Blinking Lights And Other Revelations, its emotional insights more than justify its existence. And as far as memoirs by indie-rock frontman go, it kicks the crap out of that one by the guy from Luna.
See more Spin at www.spin.com
