IN REVIEW: Everclear - "Black Is the New Black"

As a slew of so called "post-grunge" albums celebrate or approach their twentieth anniversaries, it's becoming increasingly common to see a small bump in popularity for an increasingly large number of bands that saw their star fall post-Y2K, lost to time and forgotten by the majority. In terms of the drop-off, few bands experienced a more dramatic one than Everclear; after a string of dominant singles (starting with Santa Monica and ending with Wonderful) solidified them as one of radio's favourite bands circa 1995-2000, the group seemed to fall out of fashion with alarming suddenness. By the time the second half of their Songs from an American Movie double album was released, it seemed everyone had had their fill of Everclear.

The diminishing returns of the records that followed Songs from an American Movie didn't help, as the original lineup was whittled down to just frontman Art Alexakis and response to new music was lukewarm at best (their 2006 album Welcome to the Drama Club failed to crack even the top 150 in the U.S., an embarassing result for a band that had enjoyed a multi-platinum smash less than a decade before). Somehow, though, they've hung on; through extensive touring with fellow forgotten '90s bands as part of the now-annual Summerland Tour, Everclear now seems comfortable with their role as peddlers of alternative rock nostalgia.

That said, their eighth album sort of fails at that; while some of Everclear's hallmarks are on display, Black Is the New Black is by and large a meaner, more direct counterpart to the band's '90s output. The riffs are meatier, inspired as much at times by the hard rock and nu-metal that supplanted Everclear's popularity in the aughts as the chugging power chords that peppered their early records. More to the point for those of us who were there in the '90s when all of this happened, Black Is the New Black is kind of like the fourth Stone Temple Pilots record, when they tried to deal with the fallout of druggy, coolly received Tiny Music by going heavy.

This Is Your Death Song is probably the closest cousin to past hits here, a busier and noisier Everything to Everyone that doesn't sound at all out of place next to their smash hits. It's one of very few that would act as the stuff for anyone looking for a return to form, though. The majority of Black Is the New Black, while not bad, play like Everclear in name only. With one original member, I understand that's not news to anyone, and it makes sense that a different, expanded band would inevitably create something that sounds different; it's just that the end result is stuck flailing in a not nostalgic and not modern state of limbo.

As a throwback, it takes itself too seriously, and as a rock album in 2015 it's about a decade behind the times. With a few more shameless callbacks, this could have been a fun and nostalgic trip, just like the Summerland Tour, rather than an album that's pretty good (certainly their best since 2000) but ultimately as outdated as the proudly worn chain wallets on the album's cover.

May 5, 2015 • The End

Highlights Sugar Noise • The Man Who Broke His Own Heart • This Is Your Death Song

Year in Rock 2025

Alright, I've got some explaining to do. By now anyone who's visited this blog is well aware of how infrequently I've used this space in recent years; aside from the occasional fertile year of content, I really haven't posted all that often over the last five years or so. There are many reasons for this, which have already been outlined in previous apology posts; but, essentially, it boils down to my own laziness and the cold reality that blogs are, like Refused (again), fucking dead. So, I wouldn't hold my breath for a triumphant return to reviews, or even semi-regular posts, but: a) I feel like Year in Rock posts have always belonged here and, even though I've experimented with different methods of presentation recently and been satisfied, the "blink and you missed it" unveiling via Facebook stories this year was perhaps ultimately a disservice to the records I lauded. After all, cramming the list into short videos isn't too far off from ju...

Year in Rock 2011 Nominee: Sam Roberts Band

SAM ROBERTS BAND I Feel You From: Collider Released: May 10 Having already endured the breakout success ( Brother Down was Canada's it rock song of 2002), the tentative dabbling in the U.S. market, as is the rite of passage for all moderately successful Canuck artists (2003's debut We Were Born in a Flame was the best time to try; one of the best albums of the year, it made a small dent in the American mindset upon its release there a year later), the difficult, druggy third album (the aptly named 2005 disc Chemical City ), and the subdued creative step backward (2008's Love at the End of the World , aside from hit single Them Kids , was really kinda bland), it seems according to script that Sam Roberts would start settling in on his fourth album (and first with the band credited as equal contributors), Collider (you know, I think it was a bad idea to give me brackets). Well, as far as settling in goes, Roberts does and doesn't on Collider . W...

IN REVIEW: Rancid - "Trouble Maker"

As far as punk rock goes, it's hard to name a hotter hot streak than the trio of records Rancid cranked out between 1995 and 2000; the star making ...And Out Come the Wolves , the far-reaching Life Won't Wait and their balls-to-the-wall second self-titled album solidly positioned Rancid as leaders of the second generation of punk. It also preceded a period of slow progression, as Rancid would take eleven years to release their next three records. By the time ...Honor Is All We Know came in 2014, many fans (myself included) had to wonder whether or not this was the end of the road. Such concerns are handily dealt with on the closing track of the standard edition of their ninth record, the positively punishing This Is Not the End . Well, okay then, that's sorted. Now, what of this new record? What do we make of the use of their original logo on the cover, a logo that hasn't graced a Rancid record in 25 years? Is this a throwback to the band's heyday, a new begin...

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