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album review
Four years ago, Eels frontman and songwriter E penned a collection of intimate, often gentle, and very revealing songs called Blinking Lights and Other Revelations. It reflected songs of personal experience and the human spirit. But E, aka Mark Oliver Everett, never seems to look at things the same way twice. In many ways, Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire is the mirror image of that album. And, as Everett himself claims, this one is more about animal instinct. That's fair enough as far as it goes, but this recording, while reflecting a more primal side of human experience as it engages the primacy of desire, actually recalls -- and feels like an extension of -- the song "Dog Faced Boy" from Souljacker. That kid, caught in his loneliness because of his difference, seems to be speaking -- albeit as a grownup -- through many of the songs here. His difference is both his gift and his curse and he understands both sides. He's finding his loneliness to be both the bane of his existence and his strength to survive and succeed in finding love no matter what. His protagonist, through thoroughly human, is still regarded as an animal because of his hirsute appearance, and he deals with that in these 12 songs with tenderness, rage, and reckless abandon. The sound of the album seems divided in two, the brazenly rockist set betraying the side of animal instinct in all its guises, from anger to wanton lust, desperation, and swaggering self-confidence, with E using resolute raw, distorted roots rock ("Prizefighter"); piledriving, careening garage rock ("Liliac Breeze"and "What's a Fella Gotta Do"); howling raucous blues ("Tremendous Dynamite"); and the brilliant boasting pomposity portrayed by distorted pop/rock ("Beginner's Luck").
Then there's the other half, meant to portray the very human face of the ache that desire causes. These nakedly sensitive, embarrassingly frank ballads literally pour tenderness and reveal the other side of "Prizefighter." They begin with the self-explanatory wish revealed in the simple four-chord "That Look You Give That Guy" and continue with the lilting "In My Dreams"; the somber, minor-key waltz called "The Longing"; the midtempo pop disappointment that is "My Timing Is Off" (perhaps the finest song on the record); and the resolute truth and acceptance in "Ordinary Man," where he speaks to the absent object of his desire and gives her the benefit of the doubt that on "Another warm day, in the city of cold hearts.../You, you're not like that.../And you seem like you could appreciate the fact/That I'm no ordinary man." Ultimately there's the thread of hope, because the instinct of desire brings it to us in so many different ways, and E understands this better than most. This is a beautifully crafted, stripped-down recording, showcasing once more that E uses searing honesty and a canny sense of pop, rock, blues, and everything else to chronicle his own strange path through life and its labyrinth -- he combines them all with an endearing craziness that most of us feel every day, but dare not speak of. He may be a loopy poet and songwriter, but here, as is his norm, he's spot-on and a joy to listen to. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
Then there's the other half, meant to portray the very human face of the ache that desire causes. These nakedly sensitive, embarrassingly frank ballads literally pour tenderness and reveal the other side of "Prizefighter." They begin with the self-explanatory wish revealed in the simple four-chord "That Look You Give That Guy" and continue with the lilting "In My Dreams"; the somber, minor-key waltz called "The Longing"; the midtempo pop disappointment that is "My Timing Is Off" (perhaps the finest song on the record); and the resolute truth and acceptance in "Ordinary Man," where he speaks to the absent object of his desire and gives her the benefit of the doubt that on "Another warm day, in the city of cold hearts.../You, you're not like that.../And you seem like you could appreciate the fact/That I'm no ordinary man." Ultimately there's the thread of hope, because the instinct of desire brings it to us in so many different ways, and E understands this better than most. This is a beautifully crafted, stripped-down recording, showcasing once more that E uses searing honesty and a canny sense of pop, rock, blues, and everything else to chronicle his own strange path through life and its labyrinth -- he combines them all with an endearing craziness that most of us feel every day, but dare not speak of. He may be a loopy poet and songwriter, but here, as is his norm, he's spot-on and a joy to listen to. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
more albums by this artist
See all-
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- Blinking Lights And Other Revelations
- Released 2005
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- Daisies of the Galaxy (Parental Advisory)
- Released 2000
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- Beautiful Freak
- Released 1996
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- Electro-Shock Blues
- Released 1998
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listener reviews
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12 Songs of Desire?
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- By klaks
- 6/7/2009 12:59:36
- Everett brings his unique vibe to the table again, and many of the songs have a markedly desperate theme that was often an undertone in previous work, but is very exposed and raw here.
Songs about longing for a girl's affections and feeling inadequate are consistent - That Look You Give That Guy, In My Dreams, The Longing, Fresh Blood, All of the Beautiful Things, and What's a Fella Got to Do? are just some examples of this. This is not a bad thing, and Everett has said this is an album of "Animal Instinct," but it does give the album a certain strained desperation that I thought had grown a little uncomfortable (and sometimes, just creepy) with repeated listening.
Musically, Eels are at the top of their game and much of the music is reminicent of Shootenanny.
If you are a fan of the Eels (as I am), buying this CD is a no-brainer, and you will not be disappointed. If you are only now discovering this amazing artist, this is NOT the first CD you want to get. Go for Electro-Shock Blues, Beautiful Freak or Shootenanny.
I thought the standout songs on this album were:
Fresh Blood
Tremendious Dynamite
Beginner's Luck (the upbeat song on the CD)
In My Dreams - 1 out of 1 people
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Middle of the Road
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- By darwinnmotion
- 6/3/2009 16:49:58
- Was excited about this release, woke up early before work to download. Let me first say, I like E and the Eels, have seen them live several times. I like the fact that I can listen to an album from beginning to end, and that E tends to change things up from album to album. But I must say that after listening to the album a couple times, I'm just not feeling it. Nothing really stands out other than tracks like Prizefighter, Tremendous Dynamite, and Ordinary Man. One track even goes as far as sounding like Tiger in my Tank off of Daisy's, which leads me to my next observation that album sounds like leftovers from Daisy's, Souljacker, and Shootenanny all grouped together by a common theme "love". However, it's just not enough to give the album its own identity...as of yet for me
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