American Music Club - The Golden Age

Now consisting only of two original members, Mark Eitzel and guitarist Vudi, the second album into American Music Club’s reformation finds them revisiting the more introspective moments of their past and they admirably succeed on The Golden Age.
This is an important rediscovery, particularly considering that I had pretty much written off Eitzel thanks to some fairly unremarkable solo efforts and that ambivalence carried over into 2004’s proper A.M.C. reunion, Love Songs For Patriots.
I almost let The Golden Age go too and, to be honest, my first spin of it was marred with too many distractions for it to fully take hold. So be careful: it’s subtle enough to discount and the allure is within that understatement. Eitzel and Vudi fall in together like a pair of well-worn jeans, and the moment you notice agreeable their arrangement is the moment you begin to appreciate that they’re still making music together. It just may take a few spins to come to that conclusion.
This does point to idea that it is this duo, Eitzel and Vudi, who are entitled to the A.M.C. moniker. They may have come to the realization that neither one may be able to achieve their best without the aid of the other and that moment of resignation may be The Golden Age’s laid-back core.
It’s then up to Eitzel to step up on the notion that he’s one of America’s premier songwriters and that designation is only really apparent when he maintains that down-and-out, barfly gutter-poet. Thankfully, he sticks to that formula here rather than overreaching on topics beyond the range of his weary baritone. The Golden Age is littered with dismal character studies of broads, booze and bullshitters.
Someone once called American Music Club this country’s answer to Joy Division. Thankfully, Eitzel’s too busy down at the bar taking notes to stay at home and watch Werner Herzog films. Just make sure you’re not too engaged to overlook how good it is to have A.M.C. back and firing on their two remaining cylinders.

This review originally appeared in Glorious Noise