Say hello to Hombre Lobo, the 7th studio album from Eels. And I must say that I love it. E has once again shown his mastery of his craft and provided us with a delightfully cohesive album full of the bands trademark distortion and catchy little ditties. Let’s delve a little deeper, shall we?
All in all, the album shows a very strong classic rock feel, with comparisons easily made to The Beatles and Beach Boys on certain tracks, specifically “My Timing Is Off” and “In My Dreams”. The whole record seems like a throwback to the 1960s and everything it gave us, moving from Brit-Pop to Beach Rock and even some slight girl-group sounds. “Prizefighter”, the opening track could be likened to something that would have come off of a Rolling Stones album, with a little extra twang thrown in. “That Look You Give That Guy” is slower, prettier and somewhat sad and “Lilac Breeze” is upbeat, driving, and the perfect summertime beach song.
I could go track by track, giving you mini descriptions of each song, but one thing can definitely be said about Hombre Lobo. It sounds like Eels. The basic summary is that it’s a typical Eels album with strong 60s influence, right down to rhythms, chord changes and harmonies. It could probably be likened most to 2000’s Daisies of the Galaxy and just like songs from every other Eels album, you’re likely to hear these tunes in commercials, movies and TV shows abound. I would especially love to see the album’s lead single “Fresh Blood” used in HBO’s “True Blood”. Not just because of the title, but the song actually fits with it’s dark, shoegaze meets industrial feel.
If you’re an Eels fan, get it–love it–add it to the collection. If you’re an Eels rookie, it’s not a bad album to start with. It’s nowhere near the caliber of 1996’s Beautiful Freak, but it’s certainly far from sucking.
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