Stupid Happy With Everything

Everclear “Electra Made Me Blind”

There are so many reasons Everclear do not get the respect they deserve, and some of them are maybe fair: Art Alexakis has a reputation for being an abrasive dick, and they really threw themselves into the deep end of the corporate rock market with gusto at a time when naked careerism was reviled. Then there are unfair reasons, like weird ageism about Alexakis being noticeably older than everyone else in the scene, and a bias against their subject matter focusing almost exclusively on lower middle class people who’d proudly claim to be “white trash.”

Everclear arrived at the beginning of a major class divide in rock music that’s essentially torn the genre apart and made it less relevant over time – there’s the indie-derived music on one side for the educated and well-off, and the aggressive, unapologetically hedonistic, or unambiguously uplifting rock aimed at the radio and working class people. As you move into the 00s, the yuppie side of rock music starts to disown “rock,” and move away from its signifiers. Kid A is ground zero for that, and we haven’t seen the end of it. For a great many people, rock music – along with mainstream country – is kinda embarrassing because it’s the music of the uncool poor and working class. But classism is a thing we rarely talk about in the United States, so people rarely have the self-awareness to notice they have this bias in the first place. Sure, people will be all about Bruce Springsteen’s working class boosterism, but almost anything speaking for that audience since the early ‘90s is somehow beneath contempt.

“Electra Made Me Blind” sets the stage for Sparkle & Fade, a record full of songs about broke losers and recovering junkies trying to make it the world. Alexakis’ character is leaving a small town and heading for a “new life in old L.A.,” and he’s fighting through reflexive pessimism just enough to feel good about things. It’s not a complicated song but the dynamics are very impressive – the band makes every moment feel as urgent and physical as possible, and the refrain of “I KNOW! I KNOW! I KNOW!” sounds like Alexakis banging his head against a wall in frustration. The main feeling of this song is the thrill of escape, and listening to it on its own feels like freezing yourself in a moment of high hopes and ambition before having to find out what all the obstacles ahead of you are going to be.

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