Everclear

San Francisco's American Music Club had been quietly amassing a deep catalog of muted anthems for life's beautiful losers when it stepped up its profile with 1991's Everclear, an album that finished high in year-end critics' polls. Rolling Stone named singer Mark Eitzel "Songwriter of the Year," and the group's future seemed all but secure. Everclear is a heartfelt collection of difficult emotions and indelible tunes. "Why Won't You Stay" is a gorgeous rainy-day ballad that opens the album with a tear-stained letter. "The Dead Part of You," "Ex-Girlfriend," and "Sick of Food" deliver existential woes with a passion rarely heard. Pedal steel player Bruce Kaphan adds a romantic patina to the tracks, while guitarist Vudi cranks up his amps until the band's ambience is complete. The gentler songs ("What the Pillar of Salt Held Up" and "Jesus' Hands") are literate and emotionally pure. Eitzel doesn't write sentiment without a true effort at honest introspection and reflection.