Art Alexakis may be one of the most polarizing figures in contemporary music. Few others have been as revered (platinum sales, Grammy nods, Billboard’s 1998 Alternative Artist of the Year) or as reviled (scene feuds in his native Portland, Oregon, scathing reviews) as the Everclear frontman over the course of his twelve year career. Anyone with an axe to grind with Alexakis will find little to sway them toward his fan club on Welcome to the Drama Club, Everclear’s seventh studio outing. Drama Club is marked by several major changes for Alexakis. Gone is his founding longtime rhythm section of Craig Montoya and Greg Eklund, replaced by a more fully functioning four-piece, and the album heralds Alexakis’ return to the indie realm after a decade on Capitol Records. Still firmly in place are his militantly autobiographical lyrics, this time fueled by his third divorce and the bankruptcy proceedings that drained him emotionally during the writing and recording of Drama Club. Musically, Alexakis draws on a fuller range of influences than his previous albums, as his punk roots are tempered with his even longer standing love of classic rock icons like the Stones, Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty. The overall tone of Drama Club is less about the incendiary punk that informed early Everclear albums and more about arrangements that are contemplative and inventive. And while “Hater� seems like standard issue Everclear pop thrash and a combination break-up song/answer to Alexakis’ numerous critics, the Gaelic rock reel “Now� offers his mea culpa as he sings, “I used to think I was born in a hurricane/I used to think I was jumpin’ jack flash/I used to think I was a victim of circumstance/hatin' up on everyone all the time/I shoulda been kicking myself in my own ass.� It may not be enough to mollify Alexakis’ harshest critics, but for those of us who have stuck with him through all of his phases, Welcome to the Drama Club is Art Alexakis at his most vulnerable, his most musically diverse, and his most unexpectedly mature.
~Brian Baker
Release date: September 12, 2006
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