EVERCLEAR. - Review - sound recording review

Interview, August, 2000 by Dimitri Ehrlich

Songs From an American Movie, Vol. One: Learning How to Smile (Capitol)

Everclear's new album makes two things clear: One, frontman Art Alexakis is a masterful technician and, two, he needs an editor. Jam-packed with horns, strings, harmonies, counter harmonies, and sizzling synthesizers, this is an album where "more of everything" seems to be the dominant ethos. Like Prince, Alexakis gets all manner of rich, saturated sounds on tape but his lapses of taste are gaping. And his garish butchery of Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl," in particular, cannot easily be forgiven.