Souljacker - The Eels

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* Souljacker part 1*

A restrained yet slightly funky intro moves the pace back up for Souljacker part 1. It’s not long though until E shouts “Ah yee” and blues guitars rip in. Throw in an almost atonal guitar solo and you have a strange blues song. Lyrically it’s once again covering school fuelled revenge and yet also manages to cover incest and promises to not let you leave until you rock. Time ...
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* Souljacker part 2 *

Sounding like it could have been found on the eels first album, simple vocals and a flute chorus make up the bulk of the song. Bit dull I’m afraid but only two minutes long.


* What Is This Note *

And here’s where eels prove that they are not a rock band. They really do try a bit to hard on this song to rock, with everything fuzzed up to ridiculous ... more

Obviously, the answer is no – it’s 12cm of flimsy plastic. What you need is a hydraulic jack, not a soul jack. No, despite my interest in all matters petrol this is only a CD. Albeit a pretty good one. I own all four eels (studio) albums so it’s a fairly safe bet to say I like them. However, I wasn’t overly keen on this plastic platter to start with. eels have changed their line-up for this album, back to being a three piece after having just been Mr E (Just what is wrong with the name Mark exactly E?) and Butch for two albums. Everyone say hello to John Parish, described as “A PROPER Englishman that knows how to rock”, eels bumped into John at a recording of Top of the Pops (Incidentally if you’re wondering where this review or indeed, any other review, gets all it’s fascinating facts from, it’s not insider information or anything interesting, just very comprehensive liner notes). This album may well be one of the only reasons I can tolerate the existence of TOTP.

But I said I didn’t like this album to start with, well no. eels have decided that they “just want to rock” and on first impressions they seemed to be attempting this by turning into a noisy eels/beck hybrid. However, over time it grew on me and I’m glad I gave it a chance. Or rather, I’m glad it was only one of three CD’s I had with me for the first week of Uni.

* Dog Faced Boy *

Well fuzzed up bass leads us into the song, shortly joined by simple drumming and vocals. The lyrics seem, and maybe it’s just me, but it seems to be about getting hassled at school for not shaving “Mom won’t shave me, Jesus can’t save me”. The song gains width as E steps up to his rasping vocal style and dirty, harsh guitars raise their headstocks in the mix. The lyrics move onto Mr E predicting his revenge (Sounds daft but he does) will be brought upon the heads of his tormentors. Good way to start the album.

* That’s Not Really Funny *

Maintaining the sunny disposition of the album (Note to stupid people SARCASM), Mr E seems to be chewing the ear of his lady, who he likes a lot because she’s a wonderful person and “bakes delicious pie” but seems to a bit miffed she’s questioned the size of his manhood. Ouch. The songs a mix of dirty guitars, dirty vocals, dirty bass (so much dirt you can grow potatoes) and random blasts of Latin noise. eels also through in a few more quiet moments with a percussion loop (I don’t know what Butch was hitting when they recorded it but it doesn’t sound like drums to me) an organ and undirty bass line. Mixing wiggle-your-arse Latin moments, moody quiet sections, rousing dirty sections and even a sample of a phone ringing that always fools me when I listen to it with headphones on (Despite my phone not using that particular ring tone), That’s Not Really Funny is one of the best songs on the album.

* Fresh Feeling *

Hung around a string sample (But they’re allowed to sample it as it’s off Selective Memory, from their previous album – all hail the liner notes once more) the song sweeps around majestically, completely free from rasping and dirt. Beating the song it’s based on quite nicely, you get so lost in the music you fail to notice the lyrics are there at all.

* Woman Driving, Man Sleeping *

Probably the best ballad eels have ever recorded, it’s a fairly simple song from a musical perspective. Just an electro acoustic guitar, subtle strings and a drumbeat for most of the song. This provides the backing for a lyrical story. Sometimes it’s telling the sad tale of a woman driving alone in “a little metal box under the stars” and other suitable metaphors for late night journeys. Other times it’s more upbeat as we get to peer into the mans dreams. Simple but very effective.

* Souljacker part 1*

A restrained yet slightly funky intro moves the pace back up for Souljacker part 1. It’s not long though until E shouts “Ah yee” and blues guitars rip in. Throw in an almost atonal guitar solo and you have a strange blues song. Lyrically it’s once again covering school fuelled revenge and yet also manages to cover incest and promises to not let you leave until you rock. Time to pogo then…

* A Friendly Ghost *

Odd subject matter this one. E’s lying in bed listening to nightly noises and then finding his door opening. Initially E’s scared but ends up accepting that it’s a ghost and it’s friendly. Uhuh, maybe it’s all a big metaphor for school fuelled revenge. “I’ve been carrying ‘round a grudge, think I better forgive” – maybe it is! Musically it’s a brace of gentle guitars led by a strange characterless beep riff. Good song, if a touch on the Disney side of twee.

* Teenage Witch *

Opening up with a sample so dirty I can’t tell what it’s of, that soon fades out to make way for groovy, dirty bass. Percussion once again sees Butch hitting things you wouldn’t normally find in a drum kit (Sounds like pots and pans to me). Other elements include flutes, dirty and occasionally falsetto vocals (So much dirt, play this CD to plants and they’ll grow). It’s both rousing and a bit menacing – all good elements of a song as far as I’m concerned.

* Bus Stop Boxer *

eels go mournful once again as E tells the story of a kid who had a hard start to life and ended up as one of the maniacs you can occasionally find wandering around the streets talking to oxygen. Subdued (but dirty, of course) guitars, organ and occasionally chopped up vocals provide the perfect backing to the sorry tale. Incidentally, the Bus Stop Boxer gets a credit in the ‘thanks’ section. But then so does Gorilla Girl.

* Jungle Telegraph *

Odd one this. Tells the story of a boy whose mom wanted a girl, who manages to kill someone in self defence, run away on a boat and ends up living in a tree. Uuuuuuuuh, not it’s not good. The music manages to be disjointed and dull at the same time. Random bursts of country slide guitar, repetitive muted strums the odd out of tune samples. No thanks.

* World of Sheet *

My spelling, not the bands. Opening backwards, there’s plenty of strange noises to keep you interested – although the whole song being backwards would just be too strange. Happily, correctly orientated clean guitar and piano join in, shortly followed by Mr E in a not overly raspy voice and in turn followed by strings. Not quite a ballad, but certainly has the mood of a mournful love ballad. And there’s a good reason for that, I’m sure I don’t have to point it out.

* Souljacker part 2 *

Sounding like it could have been found on the eels first album, simple vocals and a flute chorus make up the bulk of the song. Bit dull I’m afraid but only two minutes long.

* What Is This Note *

And here’s where eels prove that they are not a rock band. They really do try a bit to hard on this song to rock, with everything fuzzed up to ridiculous vocals and E trying, but succeeding, to be a rock singer. Even the addition of a Banjo can’t lift the song too far – although the solo in the middle of the song is a much needed burst of tune. Just when you think it’s all over though, the fuzzed up mess is replaced by an almost folky mesh of acoustic guitars for a short change that ends the song. It’s worth this song being on the album though, just because you get a picture of Mr E with his new big old grufty beard next to the lyrics.

So, a slight change in direction for the eels and I have to say it’s worked. I can’t say whether it’s better or not though for some reason.
 

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