I have a friend who really hates Eels. He says they're
unoriginal and boring. On the other hand he likes
drummers and he
   was born cynical. On the other-other hand all you
need to have to like Eels is a beating heart that can
relate to beautiful
   melodies.
   My conclusion: my friend is a zombie which needs to
be stabbed with a sharp stick in the chest...
   On the Eel s' previous album Electro-Shock Blues,
that was released in 1998, there were 16 dark & cold
yet perfect
   songs, about E's many family members death's. The
last song on Electro-Shock Blues in sweetly optimistic
with the
   eternal line "Laying in bed ton giht I was thinking
and listening to all the dogs and the sirens and the
shots And how a
   careful man tries to dodge the bullets While a
happy man takes a walk".
   That quote is relevant to Eels' new album because
that's exactly what they do in it. The y don't try to
dodge their sadness
   with the sarcasm that characterized E's texts so
far; they choose to play simple, optimistic songs with
no additional
   message, and no agry distorted guitars. They want
much more naive harmonies like Tom Waits' earl y work,
and maybe
   more minimalistic songs like Neil Young's After the
Gold Rush.
   A bit of country, a bit of blues, songs about birds
and beauiful days without cancer and hospital food.
Almost every song
   is done with Eels' famous charm (with a lit tle
help from Grant Lee Phillips and Peter Buck), which
only sweetens this
   beatiful album.
   Even the design is filled with sweet euphoria with
little children playing by the river.
   If I may quote E again then "If Elelctro-Shock
Blues was the phone call in the middle of the night
the world doesn't want
   to answer, then the new album is the wake up call
in the hotel saying: Here is your lovely breakfast".
   4/5 stars
   -Shai Yehezkeli+ICA-