The Eels: Hombre Lobo
review by Shaun Doniger

It’s become somewhat fashionable to dislike new music these days. And true enough, scanning through the channels on your radio often yields largely disappointing results. But the problem with saying there isn’t any good new music being made is that it just isn’t true. The Eels’ newest album, Hombre Lobo, will undoubtedly come as a welcome relief to the many American FM refugees hungry for some good, fresh rock tunes.

Mark Everett Oliver (or simply ‘E,’ the driving force behind the Eels) has not only delivered some fantastic tunes, but an entire record that pleases from front to back without the need of the ‘skip’ button on your music player. So to all you digital music collectors, I urge you to ignore the popularity bar for the individual songs and just pony up and get the whole album.

Perhaps because the Eels don’t have any songs about being ‘up in the club’ or ‘down on the floor’, the album only peaked at 43 on the Billboard 100 here in the States. (Belgium gets it, though; Hombre Lobo was number one there.) What this album is about, as the cover will clue you in, is desire, and all 12 tracks share the same theme. Not quite a ‘concept record’ in the strictest sense, (there aren’t any reoccurring characters or an over-arcing storyline) but the songs on Hombre Lobo certainly fit and belong together.

The album kicks off with ‘Prizefighter,’ one of the more hard-driving and arguably strongest cuts on the record, followed immediately by one of the most tender songs, ‘That Look You Give That Guy.’ In the chorus, E confesses to the object of his desire: That look you give that guy, I wanna see looking right at me. If I could be that guy instead of me, I’d never let you down.

‘Lilac Breeze’ gets us back to rocking again and while it isn’t particularly spectacular, it’s upbeat and enjoyable, and fades out at 2:36 just before you get tired of it. The beautiful ‘In My Dreams’ is sandwiched between this and ‘Tremendous Dynamite,’ which presents us with what seems to be E’s laziest poetry; She could put up a hard won fight. Got her head screwed on real tight. Being the bomb is her birthright. But for whatever perceived weak spots this record may have, these moments are still more enjoyable than a lot of other so-called ‘hits’ you might dial in on your car stereo.

A few more cuts in and one of the album’s more surprising delights comes in ‘Fresh Blood,’ a moody, more electronic oriented piece. The opening sets a respectable groove, but the song really kicks in when the chorus of E’s shouted wolf-cries comes in over a very cool layer of synthesizers and drum machines. For a moment, it calls to mind the sort of dark synth-pop efforts the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have offered lately.

The album’s true gem, though, is ‘Beginner’s Luck,’ which is destined to become a standard song in any respectable wedding band’s repertoire. If E was ever accused of being too morose or melancholy in any of his music, he more than makes up for it with this upbeat, sweet tale of a young couple just starting a life together: The road in front of us is long and it is wide. We’ve got beginner’s luck, we’ve got it on our side. We will be stronger if our forces are allied, and with beginner’s luck we’ve gotta take the ride.

E has succeeded making Hombre Lobo a nearly perfect encapsulation of the many facets of desire, from the pure joy of new love, to pining for someone that belongs to another and the many layers of feeling in between. So, to perpetuate a cliché, there truly is something for everyone on this album. Get it today and enjoy!