Review Summary: The Inimitable Man
For those unacquainted Mark Eitzel originally found fame as the lead singer of 'slowcore' outfit American Music Club way back in the late 80's/early 90's. While they never broke through into the mainstream to the extent of peers like R.E.M they certainly came as close as you can in 1991 when Rolling Stone magazine named 'Everclear' their album of the year with Eitzel receiving an individual award for 'songwriter of the year'. AMC never made that all important next leap in popularity and what followed was a slow fade into obscurity with Eitzel eventually deciding to go the solo route. An interesting comparison to make when looking at Eitzel's career is to compare it to another survivor of that same late 80's scene, one Mark Kozelek of Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon fame, an artist in the middle of a career renaissance releasing albums at a rate of roughly one every six months. Eitzel was certainly the bigger deal back in the early 90's while Kozelek was strictly a cult artist, now the roles have reversed with the latter arguably more famous than ever and the former as good as a forgotten man at this stage.
One of the possible reasons for Eitzel's lack of recognition since the mid 90's is that his work tends to be patchy, more often than not you find yourself searching out the classic tracks among his more mediocre material. Of course there have been exceptions to this rule among his solo work, the consistently intriguing 'The Invisible Man' and this album's predecessor 'Klamath', which despite being undeniably one-toned displayed some solid song writing throughout and hinted at a comeback of sorts. With 'Don't Be a Stranger' Eitzel delivers on that promise creating one of the most consistently impressive albums he has ever worked on, yes even when taking into account his work with American Music Club.
'Don't Be a Stranger' is far more ambitious than its predecessor, incorporating many more changes in pace, tone, instrumentation and vocal approach. This isn't the sound of Mark poring over a laptop, here we have other musicians fleshing out the sound and expanding the mood palette to great effect. The album opens with the brilliant conversational vocals of 'I Love You but You're Dead' with Eitzel applying a very nonchalant style to his singing which really suits the dry observational lyrics. Second song 'The Bill is Due' is refreshingly different, sometimes Mark has been unconvincingly compared to Nick Drake in the past but in this case the similarity is clear, his clean vocals contrasting perfectly with his delivery on the previous song.
The reworking of 'All My Love' from the AMC album 'The Golden Age' is a strange addition, this is a jazzier interpretation that transforms what was a straightforward pretty ditty into a mellow chill-out number complete with twinkly lounge piano lines. 'Oh Mercy' follows and is an album standout, a strident vocal from Mark coupled to some of the best lyrics on the album, classic Eitzel fare with our hero detailing exactly what he'd bring to the table if you dared invite him as a guest to your next dinner party. 'Costume Characters...' is even more biting, this time our disgruntled protagonist is working in The Magic Kingdom but finds himself choking on all the pixie dust.
'Why Are You with Me' has one of those titles you can't believe Mark hasn't already used before, the lightly skipping arrangement and wandering piano line are a perfect match and this has to go down as another obvious highlight. The remainder of the album is for the most part made up of sombre sounding ballads (the exception being the drunkenly flamboyant 'Break the Champagne') and it is hardly surprising this release finds space for some meditative and downbeat moments considering Eitzel had a near-fatal heart attack prior to recording. Indeed the fifteen seconds of pure silence that follow the straight talking 'We All Have to Find Our Own Way Out' would seem to directly call out for the listener to pause and reflect on the theme of mortality, whether Eitzel's or their own. The stunningly beautiful 'You're Waiting' is the most obviously loveable of the slower songs that round off the album, a typical Eitzel 'list' style approach to the lyrics, he makes this sort of material seem so effortless but the little nuances in his delivery betray the skills of a master craftsman at work.
There's something life-affirming when a down on his luck artist comes back in such strong songwriting form and you can only hope he is given the opportunity to continue producing material of this calibre well into the future.
