What credit can we give to a band that has been around since 1992, lost all but one of its original members and hasn’t released an album since 2003? Not really that much, apparently.
With their new release scheduled for Sept. 12, Everclear’s upcoming album, Welcome to the Drama Club, is almost like being welcomed to a 13-year-old’s melodramatic and rather unnecessary diary.
As a whole, the album is tied together well with nothing too erratic or out of place. Drama Club does just that: it welcomes the audience and gives insight into the three years Everclear has been gone.
Its theme is plain and simple. Everclear barely manages to capture the ups and downs of relationships, from falling in love to breaking up, in its most raw form. This is an album intended for anyone who is going through “that phase” and needs a musical friend to accompany them.
The album begins incredibly slow with two almost identical songs, “Under the Western Stars” and “Now.” While “Under the Western Stars” flows well into “Now,” they go almost too well – to the point of being indistinguishable.
Surprisingly, Everclear has chosen to release “Hater” as a single – a song which barely does justice for the rest of the album. Declared by the band as the new break-up song of 2006, it does nothing more than irritate the ears and mind. Although a catchy song, “Hater” boasts unoriginal lyrics like “I don’t wanna be with a hater like you anymore/anymore, anymore.” And if that isn’t bad enough, the song layers unnecessary vocal tracks and kitschy electronic beats, a problem which is eminent throughout the entire album.
Songs like “Shine” and “Broken” give the album some hope with their fun beats worthy of being remembered. Both are evocative of how most fans remember Everclear – a fun, modern alternative rock band.
Ironically, one of the most enjoyable tracks isn’t actually credited on the album; it’s the hidden track which you’ll find at the end of their last song, “Your Arizona Room.” That is, if you can get past the bizarre vocal track of a child and random harmonicas.
“Glorious” is perhaps the best of all, truly capturing the essence that is Everclear. It features bittersweet lyrics of a lost romance: “When I think about you, it makes me want to say/glorious/glorious (you are glorious).” A song to remember, “Glorious” does what the remaining tracks have a problem with – matching the mood the lyrics set with their instruments without trying too hard.
Coinciding with their album release, Everclear is also launching “The Drama Club College Tour.” The college tour includes 17 campuses across the nation, an appropriate move by Everclear to recapture the college audience. Check them out as Everclear stops at College Park at Santa Fe Cafe on Oct. 13.
Contact reporter Doris Nhan at diversions@dbk.umd.edu.
