Mark Oliver Everett… In case you were wondering, he’s this guy

Review: Eels – The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett

Published on May 9th, 2014 | Jonny Abrams

Eels’ sort-of-but-not-quite-eponymous new album The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett recalls the spot-of-sunlight-on-the-wall bucolia of 2000’s exquisite Daisies of the Galaxy, distinguished as it is by stately, chiming piano and thick, parping horn sections.

The brooding, heartbroken country-folk of “Parallels” could be from this Beck’s recent Modern Guilt LP were it not laced with that characterful crack to Everett’s voice.

As ever on these pages, we are reminded of others along the way – “Agatha Chang” verges on Leonard Cohen for grizzled, elegant, balladry, even if the likes of “I couldn’t bear to break up the old gang / But I should have stayed with Agatha Chang” seem more like Big Star lyrics (also a good thing, we might add), while “Answers” is a little like “Sunday Morning” meets “I Got You Babe”.

“Series of Misunderstandings” channels the disturbed twinkling of early Eels, not least its gnarled vow to “teach that motherfucker that raised you how to treat you right”, and the songwriting behind dramatically sorrowful twilight confessional “Gentlemen’s Choice” could rightly be deemed ‘sophisticated’.

Throw in the blissed-out jangle pop of “Mistakes of My Youth” and you’ve got yourself another mighty fine Eels album. They’ll never change the world, but it’s undoubtedly a better place with them in it.

The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett is out now on E Works.

You can buy The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett on iTunes and on Amazon.

Rocksucker says: Four Quails out of Five!

a quail a quail a quail a quail

Artists: eels

About the Author

Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.