Everclear- So Much For the Afterglow

I don't know what to say about this band, I want to hate them (though I'm not quite sure why), but I don't and in fact, I was really surprised at how much I actually liked this album. When so much for the afterglow hit the radio airwaves, I quickly dismissed this band as jumping on the Green Day / Pop-punk bandwagon and I probably would have never picked this album if they had not been from the Portland area (I like to connect with places by the music it puts out). Anyhow, I put the record on and found that I pretty much like almost everything on it. The music sounds pretty basic and simple with a lot of catchy hooks . The lyrics are sometimes whimsical, clever, and witty. Other times, more often than not cliche and stereotypical.  Yet, when put all together, it works... really well. The first song, the title song,  starts of with beach boy-esque  style that leads into a up tempo, pop-rock song.  Everything to Everyone has a driving bass line throughout the anthem directed towards annoying people. I Will Buy You A New Life, one of the radio hits is the bands love song about a down and out kind of guy trying to win his girl back. The song has a pretty clever line,  "I hate those people who love to tell you money is the root of all that kills, they have never been poor they have never had the joy of a welfare Christmas." Father of Mine, the other Radio hit, is a pop- angst rocker that tells the story of how the singers father abandon him and his family. Amphetamine is a faster paced punk style song. Overall, this album had me nodding my head and tapping my toes along with the music and really isn't that all you really want from a record. 


On a personal note, I vaguely recall seeing this band play once. I was in Fullerton at some club to see Jawbreaker play and a band opened playing a pop-punk style with a bleached blond guy singing. I asked  one of my friends who the band was (the same friend who landed on his face at the MTX show) and he replied, "There called Everclear, there going to get big very soon." This of course, was not a compliment from my punk rock friend, yet still very prophetic.