Mark Eitzel
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
AMCs 12-year existence was tumultuous, to say the least; Eitzel, prone to facing his demons while onstage, earned a notorious reputation as a loose cannon, and despite the lavish critical praise heaped on albums like 1991s Everclear and 1993s Mercury, the group never rose beyond a fierce cult following. Eitzel quit the band on numerous occasions, once joining another Bay Area group, the Toiling Midgets; in 1991, while still fronting American Music Club, he issued his solo debut, Songs of Love, a live acoustic set recorded in London (British audiences being much more receptive to his music than their American counterparts). A subsequent solo single on Matador, the lovely Take Courage, increased rumors of the bands impending breakup, but they did not truly implode until after the release of 1994s San Francisco. At that point, Eitzel began pursuing his solo career in earnest, debuting in 1996 with the jazzy 60 Watt Silver Lining. Eitzels subsequent solo career soon found him following a wildly eclectic path. In 1997, Eitzel teamed up with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, and in a matter of days they wrote and recorded West, which matched Eitzels verse with Bucks intelligent and engaging pop melodies. His next album, 1998s Caught In A Trap And I Cant Back Out Cause I Love You Too Much, Baby, was an unusually stark and downbeat affair, recorded in part with the assistance of Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth and James McNew from Yo La Tengo. Eitzel next embraced both pop and electronics with 2001s The Invisible Man, and in 2002 he recorded two albums of covers - a tribute to the work of other songwriters on Music for Courage and Confidence, and a look back at his own songs for American Music Club as performed with a group of Greek folk musicians on The Ugly American. A new album of solo material called Candy Ass was released on the Cooking Vinyl label in 2005.
