βDo you remember the 90s? You guys are like βwhy the fuck do you think weβre
here?!ββ
β Art Alexakis (11/14/21)
If youβre an X-ennial like myself, Everclear was the soundtrack to many late-night car rides on the brink of teenage tears. When hits like βEverything To Everyoneβ, βI Will Buy You A New Lifeβ and βSanta Monicaβ flooded the airwaves in the late 90s, life seemed to be heading in the right direction with a warm love on the wing. In a shell-shocked post-Nirvana alt-rock landscape, there were still artists who knew how maybe it was drugs that could make the pairing of a bad childhood followed by sudden success seem bearable, but more importantlyβ¦livable. These werenβt the polymath melancholies of Soundgarden or Pearl JamβEverclear was a punk approach to Pixies, a metal approach to Roy Orbison, a So-Cal Springsteen. In a world rocked by the death of Kurt Cobain, there was still hope for strung-out weirdos like Art Alexakis whose songs about abusive fathers, junky girlfriends, burning bridges, broken spirits, racist communitiesβbut also about hope in the face of overdose and deathβsomehow stillβ¦rocked. A mid-pandemic Sunday night was that long late-night car ride once again at Sacramentoβs Ace Of Spades, along with opener Wheatus.
The sole remaining and founding member of Wheatus, Brendan B. Brown (βBBBβ) has a severely underappreciated history in the music industry, forming Wheatus with his brother Peter in 1995 (their father called them collectively βwhedusβ as children). Their iconic hit βTeenage Dirtbagβ, released in 2000, became the undisputed song of that pre-9/11 summer, selling over 5 million physical copies worldwide and whose music video became synonymous with the movie Loser. Undeservedly toiling in one-hit-wonder stardom for over two decades, Wheatus is a grab-bag of surprising hits, including a garage-rock cover of Erasureβs βA Little Respectβ (which they unfortunately did not play on Sunday), βFourteenβ (based on novelist Joyce Maynardβs work), βSatanβs Ordersβ (about a bad boss Brown had in the 90s), and the angst-ridden power-pop βLemonadeβ. Sundayβs concert show was directed by Brownβs bassist Matthew Milligan and featured backup singers Gabriella AimeΓ© Sterbenz and Karlie Bruce (who wrote an untitled song for the show) and showcased Brownβs adoration for AC/DC and other post-hardcore bands, with a cover of βRock βnβ Roll Damnationβ and a tribute song to the band Quicksand, βHey, Mr. Brownβ (from their first eponymous album). Truly underrated, this band deserves more recognition from critics and fans alike, Brown quipping at the show, βOur second album [Hand Over Your Loved Ones] came out in four countriesβ¦not this one.β Fortunately for us, according to Brown, expect a new remaster of their first album next year. From one boat-hat wearing dirtbag to another, please go back and check them out.
Roaring back after a career than spans three decades, last nightβs Everclearβs lineup included founder Art Alexakis, Davie French on lead guitar, Freddy Herrera on bass and Brian Nolan on drums. Alexakis once called his style of soulful, gasoline-soaked chord-work βcowpunkβ, but from seminal albums like Sparkle And Fade, So Much For The Afterglow and Songs From an American Movie: Learning How To Smile and Songs From An American Movie: Good Time For A Bad Attitude (or even the oft-forgotten 2003 Slow Motion Daydream), rose something that transcended both the country and rock debts the sound paid homage to. Nine studio albums, five EPs and 24 singles later, Alexakis has lead the band from relative obscurity to the apex of success several times over. The 32-years sober front-man, who absolutely lived the rock star life in his heyday, now finds true happiness in his family as well as his music, musing at the show, ββ¦Thank you for coming out on a Sundayβ¦The best thing about Sunday is that I get to fall asleep on a bus and wake up and take my daughter to school tomorrow morning.β A true elder statesman of rock, the silver-coifed Alexakis recounted a story from earlier in the day about a β21-year-old ladyβ who asked him why he didnβt just bleach his hair any more like in the videos (her exact words, according to Alexakis were, βyou donβt look like that anymoreβ). He replied that those videos came out almost 30 years ago and that an old man with bleached hair is ββ¦not a good look, not to mention, Iβve been married four times, this last one for 18 years and she wonβt allow it.β The crowd sneered at the recounting of this young womanβs inapt comment, but Alexakis rejoined, saying that itβs a testament to the longevity of his music that she knew about these songs, which were recorded a full decade before she was born. Though, not to be outdone by his own story, Alexakis deadpanned to the audience, ββ¦So, 21-year-old ladyβ¦fuck you!β The audience erupted.
The show opened with the firebrand, βSo Much For The Afterglowβ and sardonic βEverything To Everyoneβ, then navigated from crowd-pleasers and party-crashers like the heartbreaking βFather Of Mineβ, βI Will Buy You A New Lifeβ, βSummerlandβ, βWonderfulβ, βStrawberryβ, βHeroin Girlβ, βAmphetamineβ to a demolition-blast cover of the first 8 bars of Zepplinβs βWhole Lotta Loveβ (Alexakis quickly cut it off, saying that he doesnβt like to sing Zepplin and hears it too often, only to sonically plunge the band into βAM Radioβ) to more obscure rarities like βLocal Godβ (from Baz Luhrmannβs 1996 film Romeo & Juliet), βLike A California Kingβ, or the raucous βThe Twistinsideβ, plus a cover of Nirvanaβs βMollyβs Lipsβ, finally closing their encore with mega-hit βSanta Monicaβ. It was a 90s rock extravaganza that everyone in attendance would agree, that even though we were several hours away from the ocean, we would gladly leave the fire behind, swim out past the breakers and watch the world die. Oh and to the 21-year-old lady, if you were in attendance last night, fuck you too.
