American Music Club

摇滚，无论是乐评还是乐迷，大概永远都会欢迎那些脆弱，敏感，以正常人眼光看来无疑是被生活打跨了的艺术家。或者这就是为何在来自旧金山的词曲创作者Mark Eitzel的领导下的乐团American Music Club倍受推崇的原因。在A.M.C的音乐生涯中，贯穿始终的就是Eitzel醉醺醺的在台上咆哮的的演出和他那具有自我毁灭倾向的行为。然而他们以他们出色的7张专辑证实了他们的确无愧于乐队的名字。在综合使用了美国民间音乐的各种成分：根源摇滚、民谣、乡村、朋克的同时，Eitzel绝望／充满忏悔之情的歌声，使的他们的作品，美丽与阴暗兼具。苦涩的幽默，失意人生的艰辛等等多种题材的运用亦使得Eitzel被誉为近十年来最伟大的词曲作者。


Eitzel出生在加利福尼亚,大部分时间都是在英国和俄亥俄州度过。直到1980年才做为朋克乐队the Naked Skinnie的一员回到Bay Area。当乐队解散后，他在1983年和吉他手Vudi（Mark Pankler），贝司手Dan Pearson,键盘手Brad Johnson以及鼓手Matt Norelli组织起了A.M.C。这是一个典型的乡村音乐乐队的架构。但Eitzel的音乐素养却要溯
至80年代初的旧金山朋克音乐舞台。乐队成员的演奏水平参差不一，有着类似Ian Curtis声线的Eitzel很快成了乐队事实上的领军人物，媒体和乐迷都将眼光聚焦在他身上，把他当成是一位感人至深的歌手，一位民间题材诗人。但实际上他经常成为乐队发展最大的敌人-一位酗酒历史可追溯至16岁时的酒鬼,他的反复无常的行为使的乐队丧失了很多机会。


总算Eitzel还能压制他的酒瘾，支撑着录完了A.M.C1985年的首张专辑：The Restless Stranger。这张专辑描绘出了他们粗线条的折衷主义声响，表明了Eitzel的世界观：自酒瓶后望出去的人生伤感无比。他的音乐是草根阶层的小人物的真切感受。举凡生活中的点点滴滴都可以成为写作一首歌的缘由。做为起点，这张专辑并未给听众留下多少印象。1987年的专辑Engine相比之下则更受关注，制作人Tom Mallon与乐队成员整天泡在一起，不放过每个可以修改的地方，并拿起吉他与乐队成员一起弹奏。整张专辑更倾向于民歌摇滚。Eitzel的歌曲达到了一个新的高度。诸如动人的"Outside This Bar"和"Gary's Song"真切的描述了酗酒生活，涉及的问题也日趋尖锐。自然，这些都是Eitzel的亲身经历。


虽然A.M.C主要是在美国本土活动，他们在欧洲却同样有一大批追随者。这都要归功于1988年的专辑California，其中Eitzel最为用心和有力的作品是一系列内容涵盖失去的友情，爱滋病之类话题的歌曲。而他们下一张专辑1989的United Kingdom也仅在英国发行。


在Eitzel于1991年出版了一张原音吉他专辑Songs of Love: Live in London后，A.M.C出版了他们最著名的专辑Everclear，评论界纷纷首肯这张专辑（尽管无法否认其中有很多商业抄作成分）。并引起了主流公司厂牌对他们的注意。经过几个月的谈判，A.M.C：现在是由Eitzel,Vudi, Pearson,多种乐器演奏家Bruce Kaphan和鼓手Tim Mooney组成，与Reprise签约，而Virgin则负责美国以外地区的销售。


1993年的专辑Mercury是一张典型反宗教偶像崇拜的专辑，离经叛道的歌名诸如："What Godzilla Said to God When His Name Wasn't Found in the Book of Life" ,"The Hopes and Dreams of Heaven's 10,000 Whores"同时尽管不太有说服力和难免有几分讽刺成分在内，却也开始有了反酒鬼的内容，佳作有"If I Had a Hammer," "Apology for an Accident"等。虽然凡响很热烈，Mercury在排行榜上的成绩却不怎么样，在电台节目和MTV中也很少被播放。1994年,他们发行了San Francisco，一张五花八门的题材的专辑，即有令人感动的忏悔，如"Fearless"和"The Thorn in My Side Is Gone"也有倍受好评的流行曲如"Wish the World Away"和"Can You Help Me"。虽然这些年来A.M.C一直颇受媒体的好评，但却从未有那张专辑达到过商业意义上的成功。


这张专辑也没能维系住乐队的关系，A.M.C终于还是解散了。1996年年底，Eitzel和制作：R.E.M.的Peter Buck录制了专辑West.




Although chosen for its deliberately nondescript qualities, in retrospect the name American Music Club was the perfect moniker for the lauded San Francisco-based band led by singer/songwriter Mark Eitzel: over the course of seven acclaimed albums, the group tied together the disparate strands of the American musical fabric — rock, folk, country, punk, even lounge schmaltz — into a remarkably distinct and riveting whole, creating a brilliant and cohesive body of work dappled by moments of haunting beauty and impenetrable darkness.

Although born in California, Eitzel spent his formative years in Great Britain and Ohio before returning to the Bay Area in 1980 with the punk band the Naked Skinnies. After the bands breakup, he founded American Music Club in 1983 with guitarist Vudi (born Mark Pankler), bassist Dan Pearson, keyboardist Brad Johnson, and drummer Matt Norelli. Despite the skill and diversity of the other members, Eitzel quickly became the groups focal point: an evocative vocalist and gutter poet capable of composing songs of disquieting honesty and intensity, he was also frequently the bands worst enemy — a heavy drinker since the age of 16, AMC shows often disintegrated into surreal backdrops for Eitzels alcoholic rants and self-destructive showmanship, and throughout the groups tumultuous career, his erratic behavior led him to briefly exit their ranks on numerous occasions.

Still, Eitzel quelled his demons long enough for AMC to record their 1985 debut, The Restless Stranger; later disowned by the group, the album does offer a rough outline of their increasingly eclectic sound, and firmly established Eitzels world view, a harrowing vision of life as seen through the bottom of a shot glass. 1987s Engine honed the formula: the addition of producer Tom Mallon as a full-time member expanded the groups sonic palette, while Eitzels songs achieved new levels of intimacy as compositions like Outside This Bar and Garys Song grappled with the realities of the drinking life.

While American Music Club languished in obscurity in their native country, they earned a solid European cult following on the strength of 1988s California, a frequently brilliant collection highlighted by the shimmering country and folk accouterments which couched fractured love songs like Firefly and Western Sky; Blue and Grey Shirt, Eitzels most heartfelt and powerful composition to date, was the first in a series of devastating chronicles of friends lost to the AIDS epidemic. Still, the album garnered little notice, and their next LP, 1989s United Kingdom, appeared only in the nation which lent the record its name: another superb collection drawing on leftover material and live tracks, it featured The Hula Maiden, the first recorded fruits of Eitzels growing fascination with lounge crooning.

After a solo acoustic Eitzel release, 1991s Songs of Love, American Music Club emerged with its masterpiece, Everclear, a remarkable song cycle released to phenomenal critical acclaim (and the usual negligible commercial interest). Still, the lavish praise heaped on Everclear (named in honor of a vicious, 180-proof transparent liquor) finally made the major labels take notice, and a bidding war ensued. After months of negotiations, AMC — now consisting of Eitzel, Vudi, Pearson, multi-instrumentalist Bruce Kaphan, and drummer Tim Mooney — signed with Reprise in the U.S. and Virgin throughout the rest of the world, and entered the studio with acclaimed producer Mitchell Froom.

The result, 1993s Mercury, was a typically iconoclastic effort featuring unwieldy song titles like What Godzilla Said to God When His Name Wasnt Found in the Book of Life and The Hopes and Dreams of Heavens 10,000 Whores resting uneasily against lush, obtuse gems like If I Had a Hammer, Apology for an Accident, and Johnny Mathis Feet. Despite glowing reviews, Mercury fared poorly on the charts, and earned virtually no recognition from radio or MTV. In 1994, AMC issued San Francisco, an erratic collection which precariously balanced stark, moving confessions like Fearless and The Thorn in My Side Is Gone alongside slick pop constructs such as Wish the World Away and Can You Help Me. When San Francisco failed to connect, American Music Club finally dissolved; in 1996, Eitzel issued his proper solo debut, 60 Watt Silver Lining, a collection of torch songs. At the end of the year, he and producer Peter Buck of R.E.M. returned to the studio to record 1997s West. In 2003, Eitzel and Vudi announced that American Music Club were reuniting, and following short tours of Europe and the United States, the groups new album, Love Songs for Patriots, was released in the fall of 2004, with more live shows scheduled in support.