Cap It Off

When American Music Club returned to the scene in 2004 with the brilliant Love Songs for Patriots after a 10-year hiatus, fans cheered but also wondered if perhaps this was the band’s last hurrah—a fitting end to an extraordinary career. So, when news surfaced of the impending release of a 2008 AMC album, the stakes were high. Would the new disc continue an unlikely comeback or tarnish a remarkable legacy?

As it turns out, fans needn’t have worried. The Golden Age, released in February, proved to be the best thing AMC mastermind Mark Eitzel and company had produced since 1991’s Everclear. A brilliant batch of songs that found Eitzel’s morbid sensibilities intact and accessible as ever, The Golden Age was a more organic record than previous AMC efforts. The recording process, with producer Trumfio (Wilco, My Morning Jacket) presiding, marked a deliberate break from AMC’s usual reliance on heavy layering and overdubs. The results were sublime, and the record also boasted a new incarnation of AMC. The album paired Eitzel and longtime collaborator Vudi with two newcomers, as Sean Hoffman and Steve Didelot assumed bass and drum duties, respectively.

Happily, Eitzel’s decided to take the new songs, and the new band members, out on the road for a spring tour that includes a couple of New York City stops that are already attracting significant buzz. And, while Eitzel’s embarked on a number of recent tours as a solo act, he’s looking forward to playing with the band again. “I have others to share the torture with me,” he quipped recently when I asked him about taking the band out this time around, his trademark morose humor fully intact.

Eitzel hasn’t toured with a band behind him in a while, and when asked about his current European tour and the upcoming string of stateside dates, his email response, like many of his songs, is imbued with a charming sense of anguish: “Well we are ENDURING the European tour—and the U.S. tour is going to be a real bitch but I hope we play some good shows. I mean, as a live band, we are kind of unstoppable right now—and and and I can’t wait to get to New York.”

And, speaking of New York, Eitzel calls it “probably my favorite place on the planet.” In fact, some of the highlights of his most recent release were inspired by his time spent in the Big Apple. “I have written a couple of albums [in New York] and a few songs—including one on this record—are part of a group all about a particularly drunk week.”

Though AMC’s current tour is surely a celebration of 20-plus years of morbid fascinations and a new album that’s a worthy addition to an already stellar discography, don’t expect the band’s New York sets to smack of triumph. If the new record is any indication, the band’s brief stay in New York will likely serve as an occasion for Eitzel to dispense some bad news. As he tells it, “The new record is a collection of stories—not filtered so much by ME or by MY bad fucking news—and I kind of like that. It’s OTHER PEOPLE’S bad news. (don’t you LOVE putting things in all caps?).”

And, really, who doesn’t love a guy who types in ALL CAPS? Still, computer etiquette aside, AMC’s New York gigs promise to offer catharsis for those in need. Either way, armed with a tremendous back catalog and a terrific new record to draw from, these are two shows that—to oblige the artist—come HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

April 26, Music Hall of Williamsburg, 66 N. 6th St. (betw. Kent & Wythe Aves.), B’klyn, 212-260-4700; 8, $15/$17 (also April 27 at Mercury Lounge).