Eels - 'Meet The Eels' (Universal) Released 21/01/08

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A lighter tone is immediate with the accessible pop of  'Flyswatter' from 2000's Daisies Of The Galaxy about which E writes "...if Electro Shock Blues was the phone call in the middle of the night that the world doesn't want to answer, then Daisies Of The Galaxy is the hotel wake-up call that says your lovely breakfast is ready", and it's smoked salmon with scrambled eggs on brioche toast with 'I Like Birds', and bacon with maple syrup on the indomitable 'Mr E's Beautiful Blues'. Fortunately, there's a non-appearance for the amended version of 'It's A Motherfucker', namely 'It's A Monstertrucker' which appeared on the film A Guy Thing, instead the unassailable candle-lit piano-fused ballad - "It's a motherfucker/ being here without you...".

'Souljacker Part 1' heads the hard-rock charge of 2001's Souljacker which featured John Parish (of PJ Harvey's band) in co-writing department. The title track a psycho-rock death-charge of angsty, strangled guitar and looping riffs to a song  about a damaged-goods sociopath - "22 miles of hard road/ 33 years of tough luck...awh yeah...", whilst 'That's Not Really Funny' takes in fuzz guitar with cabaret     touches amidst roller-coaster yelps of "whoa", whilst other moments include a gritty, wall-of-sound-with-alarm-bells cover of 'Get Ur Freak On' and the weary, sleepy-eyed-tinkly-belled ballad 'I Need Some Sleep' from Shrek 2.

Shootenanny was recorded in just ten days as a break from recording Blinking Lights, and tracks such as the driving rock of 'Saturday Morning', and 'Love Of The Loveless' mark it out with a zesty freshness, whilst a live version with strings of the alt-country 'Dirty Girl' forms an ode to an old girlfriend whose eyes E'll have to avert - "I love a girl with a dirty mouth/ I know that I can trust her...".   Eels took some time over Blinking Lights And Other Revelations to deliver an opus of a double album. Whereas Electro Shock Blues showed reilience and courage in the face of adversity and shares many a transcendent moment, the musical sensibility of Blinking Lights with steel pedal and guest appearances from Tom Waits, Peter Buck and John Sebastian harboured a buoyant optimism such as the featured tracks - 'Hey Man (Now You're Really Living), the tinkly music box of 'Trouble With Dreams', the changing world of 'Railroad Man', and the tender confessional ballad ' I'm Going To Stop Pretending That I Didn't Break Your Heart' with musings past their sell by date - "I'm gonna tell you what you need to hear/ I'm a little too late/ by 3 or 4 years...". With DVD's to accompany, 'Meet The Eels' shows how non-linear and capable of switching musical tack Eels are, thus earning their cult status accolade. Aw, sure there's the omission of  'Mother Mary', but then when did a squirrel last drop its' nuts in your lap.