Album Review

Eels – Hombre Lombo

• 1st Jun 2009

The title of the latest offering from Eels is Spanish for ‘werewolf’, possibly to reflect the new heights of hirsuteness frontman E has scaled. Check out the inlay card – truly, his whiskers are a marvel of the beardy arts.

Subtitled ’12 Songs of Desire’, the themes are what you’d expect – unrequited love, yearning and lust. ‘Prizefighter’ starts the album off on an upbeat with a floor-on-the-floor blues shuffle and warm, fuzzy vocals. In fact, at first it’s hard to tell if the distortion is an effect or a result of static generated by E’s mighty beard. ‘The Look You Give That Guy’ has us on a well trodden path with its descending bassline, whilst the lean and muscular ‘Lilac Breeze’ provides the album’s first rock out.

‘In My Dreams’ is wistful whilst ‘Tremendous Dynamite’ is menacing and libidinous. ‘The Longing’ is a flashback to ‘Electroshock Blues’. If you’re not in the mood for a sad song it’s tempting to skip to the next track, but give it a chance and it soars. Dreamy and yearning, it’s a highlight of the album.

‘Fresh Blood’ is another standout. Moody and threatening, it’s punctuated by scary synths and E’s lupine howl. ‘What’s a Fella Gotta Do’ ups the tempo with a great guitar riff and urgent beats, but then we come to ‘My Timing Is Off’. Hmm… another reviewer on this site dismissed this song as ‘lame’ which I think doesn’t do it justice. At best it’s a lightweight ditty, at worst, filler. Even The Beatles were guilty of that.

‘All the Beautiful Things’ sounds like the Eels of old, all delicate guitars, strings, xylophone and soft brass. However, ‘Beginners Luck’ starts off a bit like a cod-reggae ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’. To these ears, it sounds derivative and out of place on this album. ‘Ordinary Man’ brings proceedings to a close with dreamy slide guitars and organ.

‘Hombre Lobo’ never quite achieves the highs of ‘Souljacker’, but to be fair, that’s a hard act to follow. It’s more akin to ‘Daisies of the Galaxy’, were that album to get some tattoos and do a stretch in San Quentin. It finds Eels on familiar territory, which – let’s face it – is no bad thing.