The Eels

This morning, while walking the dog, I heard an interview with Mark Oliver Everett (aka “Mr. E” or “A Man Called E” or just “E”) of The Eels, on occasion of the release of the band's new album “Hombre Loco: 12 Songs of Desire.”

At the risk of discrediting all pretense of credibility, I will cop to not having followed the Eels until now. The NPR interview with Scott Simon is a good one, including discussion of a documentary Mr. E has been working on about his father, Hugh Everett, a physicist known for his novel theories about parallel universes. (From the biography page on the Eels website: "A quantum physicist who authored The Many Worlds Theory, Everett inspired countless science fiction books, movies and Star Trek episodes with the concept of parallel universes. As a young teenager he exchanged letters with Albert Einstein, debating whether it was something random or unifying that held the universe together.")

Here's The Eels in the studio with “Prizefighter,” a song with the rough, rootsy sound toward which I tend to gravitate.



“That Look You Give That Guy” is an almost perfect pop song--something that would normally send me running in another direction. This one works. (Note to the Dog Walkerer: Look for the sad-eyed hound at 1:15).