Two wrongs do not make a right. Tell that to Everclear, which has tried to overcompensate for the mediocre Songs From An American MovieVol. One: Learning How to Smile with Vol. Two: Good Time For A Bad Attitude.
Everclear
Songs From An American Movie Vol. Two
Capitol Records
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While Vol. One delved into sampling and acoustics, Vol. Two hits hard with straight electric grunge and is, in essence, the exact opposite of its predecessor. Where Vol. One was far too soft and unemotional, Vol. Two is far too hard and overly emotional.
On Vol. Two Everclear just tries too hard. Songs like "Babytalk" and "All Fucked Up" are drowned in electric mayhem to the point that discerning a true rhythm and beat can be complicated. Everclear seems content just to pound on their instruments.
On top of not being able to get the grunge thing down, Vol. Two occasionally slips back into Vol. One with soft folk rock tracks like "Out of My Depth" and "The Good Witch of the North." Not only do these tracks not fit in this album, but they are also blatantly sentimental and musically simple. Only "Overwhelming" puts some power and layers into the music along with semi-intelligent lyrics.
There are times when they are able to put together a decent beat in the same vein as their previous releases. "When It All Goes Wrong Again" and "Rock Star" are energy-driven pop rock anthems with fun yet grungy guitars.
Where Everclear truly shines is, ironically, on the instrumental "Halloween America." It combines several layers of grunge and strings to create a heavy-hitting and melodic jam and yet totally void of Art Alexakis' lyrics.
With Vol. Two, Alexakis has ceased the bitching and complaining that has been prevalent in all previous releases, especially Vol. One. On Vol. Two Alexakis discusses a variety of topics including rock stardom and controlling women, though sometimes with a little too much enthusiasm.
Kudos to the band for moving on from the monotonous three-chord trap that had previously held them before the American Movie set, but in the process Everclear may have abandoned its core sound.
