Eels - Souljacker

Something has happened to The Eels. When I first listened to Souljacker (released Sept. 24th internationally) I thought to myself "What the hell is this!?" Aside from frontman E obviously having gone crazy and grown one hell of a beard, where was the style of music that I had grown to love from The Eels? Where were the intensely introspective lyrics? Where were the songs that were so quiet that I thought E was going to bust into tears. Or the songs that turned the whole feel of the album around and left you with an uplifting feeling instead of the dark almost morbidness that permeated the album. These factors were not present, and I was a bit ticked. But that was at first. I was calmed down a bit when I heard "Woman Driving, Man Sleeping" and "World of Shit" (and even "Souljacker (Pt II)"). They seemed to play off the old Eels sound. I put the album down for a few weeks and thought maybe some distance between us would be the best thing for this relationship. Even Daises Of The Galaxy, though upbeat, had a bit of an overall darkness to it.. a concept record almost. But this new album, Souljacker, I just did not understand. Then it dawned on me. The Eels are having fun.. and they are having it with some heavy guitars. Maybe that's a bit of an overstatement but this album is definetly alot more guitar intense than any other previous effort from them. The first single "Souljacker (Pt. I)" sums up the feel of the album almost perfectly. The guitars are heavy and in front, the lyrics are catchy but somewhat silly. Even the way the vocals are treated in the recording is kind of fun and light with the hyper-pitching of E's voice on the "oh yea!" 's. So after having some time apart from Souljacker I've rekindled my love for the Eels. I always knew they were goofy guys, but it never seemed to show so much in their music. Where Electro-Shock Blues was a slow painful ride through E's personal life, and Daises Of The Galaxy was his emergence from that dark place, Souljacker is E's way of showing that everything is okay and it's time to have some fun. The album is full of little quips of stories written to entertain, and from time to time.. rock you. The album starts off with "Dog Faced Boy" where E screams "Life ain't pretty for a dog faced boy." Truer words were never spoken (he even mentions his incredible beard). The high points of the album continue with "Fresh Feeling" where The Eels delve into sampling, and sample... themselves. The string arrangements were compiled from the Daises Of The Galaxy sessions but stand out as completely unique. "Friendly Ghost", "Teenage Witch", "and "Bus Stop Boxer" all tell the tale of some random unique individual. "What Is This Note?" ends the album, and in a seriously odd way. Definetly one of the strangest Eels tracks to date. Overall, I'd say it's nice to see The Eels in high spirits. I will, however, say that it took some getting used to. Electro-Shock Blues will forever remain in my Top Ten list of albums, but Souljacker would be an honorable mention. [www.eelstheband.com]