Eels still happy; album not as awesome

eels-WGThough it may be cruel to wish ill on those you admire, I sort of want Mark Oliver Everitt (E) to channel his tragedy to make another masterpiece. Like many aging musicians, he’s gotten more peaceful and cute on his recent endeavors. Who needs grudges? Who needs to dwell on the pain? Who needs to ignore the pain? We’re not perfect, right? All of these themes rise to the surface on recent eels records, which makes them seem awfully flat, emotionally. Sure, the music is fun and there are still some clever lines, but nothing compares to early eels work based around death and darkness. Still,  I guess we can be happy for ol’ E. He can rattle off feel-good pop like “Peach Blossom” and be cordially respectful on “You’re My Friend.” Only a few tunes channel a classic eels vibe (isolation– trying to be positive in a crappy world), like “New Alphabet.” It’s almost like a whole new artist since Blinking Lights and Other Revelations— and as a new artist, this would rate much higher, but knowing the past catalog, we can’t quite rave about Wonderful, Glorious.