California

3.2 - Most of us have had that one co-worker who's always inviting the office to see his band perform. He's a nice guy and does good work. So, finally, a group of you decide some Wednesday evening to go see him perform. The gig's fairly close to the office and it's on the early side so it's not such a huge commitment. Plus, what else are you going to do on a Wednesday night? After the show, you offer him hearty pats on the back. "Good work, man! Didn't know we had a rockstar in our midst," you quip as you wave goodbye.

I can't believe this needs to be said, but "this isn't on Spotify" isn't remotely a legitimate criticism of an album. Spotify is a cancer on music (even more so than the rest of the industry) and is for soccer moms and other "I like to have something on in the background" casuals. If you have such limited resources that your only place to listen to music is Spotify and YouTube ("o noes, there are ads, whatever will I do!??"), that's your problem. In fact, reviews that mention Spotify should be discarded outright. If that includes this review, then fine. OK now that we've gotten that out of the way, this is not a bad album. I'd never heard of it before; while it didn't really grab me, the songwriting is solid and it does anticipate, by a few years, one of the dominating radio sounds of the early 90s.

You can find this album on YouTube, but I don’t recommend you waste your time.

Harddd pass on this one. Another one of the "why is this album on the list" albums. Not sure what is redeemable about it. I guess it sounds sincere, but it doesnt sound good. I cant sing, and neither can the vocalist of the band.

If Bruce Springsteen wasnt for dads, but for alcoholic sad dads.

underrated; should be on spotify

Never heard of American Music Club before, and that seems to be a mistake. California is a great showcase of songwriting and blending of americana, indie and post-punk with a great highlight in 'Pale and Skinny Girl'.

This album was not on available on spotify.

Pretty boring. Some ok stuff but nothing really here.

Feels extremely dated, like a band trying to play Toad The Wet Sprocket. I'd read a review suggesting this was like slowcore. It is not, and it it's Not for me.

This isn't on Spotify, so I had to buy it via Bandcamp (you can also listen to the album there): https://americanmusicclub1.bandcamp.com/album/california-digi-only-release And it was worth it! Reminds me of Radiohead and Talk Talk, and a little Elliot Smith. Digging those chord progressions.

Incredible album which sounds well ahead of its time (I'm starting to realise that my favourite 80s albums are ones that don't sound like they were released in the 80s). Seems like they've had far reaching and significant influence on everyone from Elbow to Brand New and Slint. Even a bit of REM (see Western Sky) but I suppose they lean more toward contemporaries. Strong blues attack mid album breakdown in Bad Liquor demonstrates solid range. Outstanding song writing goes without saying.

I don't like country or bluegrass or whatever. I can expound but that's not important. I feel bad because I simply cannot give this album a snowball's chance in hell. Firefly turned me off so much that I'll probably never achieve an erection again. It's like someol garage band played what they think Rush sounds like and read the menu to a barbecue joint over the music. I listened to the second track in the album, Somewhere. I suspect that the person on drums is taking out their aggression instead of keeping rhythm. Objectively, the music is passable. I simply hate it. This is my rating and if you don't like it, you'll have to live with that.

Couldnt listen on spotify found on you tube and fell off my chair... 30 minutes later when i came round youtube was playing a video about replacing a broken motor on a washing machine. Why? My washing machine was fine, washing better than ever, in that moment there with the warm dribble working its way down my chin i realised i was still on the floor. Moments later upright, alert I made my self a nice cup of tea and relaxed.

I have listened to one song from American Music Club - a cover of The Carpenters’ Goodbye To Love that appeared on a tribute album in 1994. It was a fantastic cover that I have loved ever since. I never looked into the artist. What took me so long?! These guys are fantastic. I love the music. The steel guitar. The rock guitar. The acoustic guitar. The deep lead singer’s voice that cracks at all the right moments. The songcraft. Everything about this album is fantastic. It took a bit of effort to find somewhere to listen to this album. My first listen was to a YouTube playlist a friend found. I loved it so much that after that first listen, preparing to listen again, I decided to go use the Bandcamp link said friend provided and pay £10 + tax to be able to download MP3s to my Music app. A fantastic keeper! So many great songs, picking a favorite is tough. But Western Sky just keeps haunting me…

Ah. A real "blind spot" in my knowledge of household names in music from the last six decades or so. At last. Of course there have been lots of acts I only had surface familiarity with during the completion of this project (and it's not because I listened to a couple of key LPs from them that my knowledge really significantly deepened). But the acts I have *never* listened to are rare, and this is what I signed for here. I was aware of who Mark Eitzel and his first major band were. But if my memory serves, I had never sat down to give a spin to any song of his. My first impression is of American Music Club's *California* is that it is the sort of record you need to spend time with to fully appreciate its merits, a little bland at first sight, but gaining colors as you dig further. Not the sort of album you fall in love with right away. Not "catchy" enough on first listens. But you can sure feel it has potential as a "slow grower", and this for many reasons... The first reason is "contextual". Striking albums released in 1988 are not so numerous compared to most other years (only found less than 10 absolute keepers in that year). And this record offers something that was lacking in my 1988 list: some gracious, pretty dignified strand of Americana (Cowboy Junkies admittedly released a rougher rendition of that tradition in 1988, but its "messy" nature is leagues away from "California"'s glossy production values). The second reason is the wide array of stylistic touches lurking beyond said Americana surface, giving a scope to this record that pretty impressive. In a way, this album can feel as a very "American" response to the pop-rock of mid-career Talk Talk, with a bit of REM thrown in for good (American) measure. Yet this second take doesn't even dig enough. Which leads us to the third reason I want to spend more time with this album, i.e. its "prophetic" nature: early whiffs of Slint's post-rock and Silver Jews or Wilco's post-country-rock distinctly tickled my nostrils here -- maybe mixed with Arab Strap and Red House Painters's abrasive and "confessional" storytelling put into music. And this peculiar formula gives somewhat "timeless" assets to this LP -- a couple of typically eighties production values notwithstanding. Saying that the band's music foretells "slowcore" is a stretch however. But it's not because contemporary critics are misguided in their retrospective takes of "California" that you should bear a grudge against it. My only real doubt is about Mark Eitzel's vocal performance, which oscillates between somewhat "forced" and stilted inflexions to suddenly quite odd, more "slacker"-like moments, impeding on the necessary cohesion you need to feel for something as important as vocals. But I feel that if the songs stay long enough with me, these are the sorts of passing flaws that can actually become endearing in the long run. Will the songs stay with me, though? When I listen to the gently cinematic "Western Sky", or the ascetic-yet-terrifically evocative "Jenny", I have an inkling that they will. Only time will tell, though. Hence why I want to give a tentative "good grade" to this record, even if I can't give a perfect one. There might be some even better records in the *real* "American music club" that I have never listened to, after all. 3.5/5 grade for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 4. 8.5/10 grade for more general purposes (5 + 3.5). Number of albums left to review: 26 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 419 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 248 (including this one) Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 311

This came completely out of nowhere. Never even came close to hear about American Music Club. Beautiful, varied and never hiding even an ounce of emotion. This is not the last time, I have visited their discography.

This is one of the better - and earlier - grunge-adjacent roots rock LPs I’ve heard, not far from REM, but with flurries of howling guitar that remind me of the pretty great Thin White Rope. This is not music I’d dine with, but I’m content to share a few minutes at the espresso bar.

American Music Club, the discerning NME-reading hipster's choice back when I was only an eager young apprentice. I tried to like them, but could never discern much of a tune. Returning today, it's fine - best bits sound like Miracle Legion which is about as feeble an endorsement as I can be bothered to give

Q were always crushing over Mark Eitzel and AMC. Also Karl Wallinger and World Party Thing is, without radio play, there was little to no way of figuring out what they were like. Now I know. Judging from this, they weren't really worth the wait. For me, that is. Perfectly competent tv movie soundtrack music.

Meh-ican Music Club, amiright?

Not worth enduring the YouTube ads for.

Pleasant

It was worth going out of the way to search it! The first song started a bit worryingly generic, but as the album went on it developed a sense of unique personality

4.5

Their best work. A sad, but real album, full of melancholic songs, but the occasional upbeat one. The last song is a real tear-jerker.

i need to buy this album on cd. this is beautiful i haven't heard music so good in a while. such mellow and cool tracks. the guitar is beautiful.

вау!

AMC bring back so many memories. Western Sky is a perfect song. I don’t hear too many references to them any more, so I’m glad they’re represented here.

Daft name for a band, but a good album

Compelling, bracy and intermittently lovely. The opening cut is warm and approachable, setting a mood of near-lightness (or at least not pure bleakness as one expects). Hard to overrate the influence of this release – one hears Wilco, Sun Kil Moon, Counting Crows, Buffalo Tom, etc. "Firefly" and "Last Harbor" and "Blue and Grey Shirt" are the peak tracks here. An under-appreciated (if minor) masterpiece that suits this list and needs to get on to streaming services soon.

Interesting Americana guitar parts but with more apathetic vocalist. Not what I was expecting! There's parts that remind me of Bruce Springsteen, like "Somewhere" sounds like "Born to Run" in a good way. I'm also hearing a lot of "Okkervil River" in this band which I'm happy about. This band came out first but "Now You're Defeated" sounds like it could be a song in both band's catalogues. I really enjoy how dynamic the tracks are. The third song, "Laughingstock" is really soft and mild compared to the first two tracks and this is something I really appreciate so early in a rock album. I often dislike when rock bands try other things but then shove those tracks to the ends of records. I really didn't know what to expect song after song but as I was listening I did however start to get an expectation that the next track would also be good. I do feel bad because this album could easily be skimmed over for me; it appeared on a Monday, and a day when I was traveling / returning home from a trip, so it's Tuesday when I'm listening to it and already looking at the generated albums list to make sure that I'm not skipping or forgetting an album. Not only should this album be given proper attention, I think it should be in a rotation for me. It's really really solid and I'm only bummed that it comes in at around 40 minutes in total duration; I want more! It's a clear 4/5 and I'm really happy to discover the band. The distorted guitar parts in the chorus of "Highway 5" confirmed that it's a high 4 for me when I heard them.

Very enjoyable!! reminds me kind of REM and replacements combined maybe. Definitely a great midwest vibe to it... makes me want to find it on cd since its not on spotify.

The song starts out strong. “Marcello Semeraro” I seriously thought this track was a Springsteen track between the voice and music. I’m enjoying this album. I’m curious how I have never heard of this band. Ok. This was a great album. It does not sound like the 80s even a little. It could be from almost any time, and I hear Radio Head in here. I wonder if this album had an influence on them.

I’ll admit, I’d never heard of American Music Club until today. With that name, I might have overlooked them entirely if California hadn’t been included in the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Though missing from most streaming services, the album is available on Bandcamp—so there’s no excuse not to give it a listen. Once I finally pressed play, I was gripped by AMC’s haunting, spacious sound. These tracks feel delicate yet temperamental with an almost cinematic quality. Mark Eitzel’s vocals have an intimate, confessional edge, shifting from a weary whisper to a cathartic wail that perfectly complements the album’s sombre themes. The arrangements mirror his emotional intensity, creating a slow, reflective experience where melancholic melodies dominate, allowing the emotional weight of the lyrics to sink in. Guitarist Vudi’s reverb-soaked riffs and subtle strumming lend texture without stealing focus, letting Eitzel’s voice and introspective lyrics shine. Highlights like “Firefly” and the gorgeous “Western Sky” capture the album’s sense of longing and disillusionment, while “Blue and Grey Shirt” digs into themes of love and regret. The closer, “Last Harbor,” leaves a lingering sense of melancholy. At times, this feels like the sound R.E.M. might have pursued without major-label polish, though Eitzel’s lyrical approach is far darker than Michael Stipes'. Recorded with minimal production, California is intentionally sparse, capturing heartbreak and self-reflection against the ghostly backdrop of a fading California dream. In a parallel universe, this band are probably huge, but conversely, their underdog status makes them more appealing to me. Did/Do I own this release? No Does this release belong on the list? Sure Would this release make my personal list? I'm still processing it, but I've enjoyed listening to it. Will I be listening to it again? For sure

\"Laughingstock\" is a beautiful tune. As is "Blue and Grey Shirt," "Now You're Defeated," "Jenny," (possibly my fave), and "Last Harbor" (or maybe it's this one). All the beautiful tunes are great, there are just some less-than-great ones mixed in. I'm gonna go ahead and round up to 4 stars because this album is getting an unnecessarily bad rap. Also because they are not on Spotify and Spotify can go to hell.

Couldnt find this album anywhere so just listened instead to their stuff generally. This was quite up my street. Nice easy Weat Coast vibe. A bit nondescript. Just enough rock, folk, punk, loose mush to keep most happy ish. Admittedly it’s been done a thousand times, and probably quite a bit better by others later on, but decent and I would listen again.

Enjoyable :) I liked this more than I thought I would

Very British sounding folk tinged indie Gonna listen to more of their stuff Not something I expected to like but this list can be full of surprises sometimes.

pretty fire big fan

Gutes Indie Album. Es lohnte sich die Recherche in YouTube und das Reinhören. Gelungene abwechslungsreiche Kompositionen einer Band der die Musik wichtiger erscheint als das Business. Der Song „Jenny“ ist grandios, gefühlstarrk und authentisch. Ich würde es auf jedenfall Wiederhören.

Too bad this isn't available to stream because I enjoyed it a decent amount. My favorite was Western Sky. It's a softer indie rock album, a style I like much more than the Dinosaur Jrs. and Lemonheads of this era. Good song writing, the others I liked here were Lonely and Firefly.

this band has 11 thousand monthly listeners on spotify. this album isn’t even on spotify - had to listen on youtube. and it ended up being REALLY GOOD and it’s a shame i’ll probably never go back to it since it isn’t streaming anywhere. maybe i’ll check out their other stuff

Reminds me of groups like American Football or Pinegrove. Really liked it, though wish it was on Spotify, haha.

4/5

I listened to Everclear and Songs of Love Live by Mark Eitzel because this album was not available on Spotify. It's a shame because I really enjoyed those two albums and would love to listen to this one. The songwriting is fantastic and Mark's voice is really interesting, almost like an understandable eddie vedder. Will definitely listen to some more of their stuff.

Had never heard of them before but I really enjoyed this album. Great vibe. Great for a long drive. Firefly was my favorite

I like the lyrical themes, and kind of like the overall sound as well, but I just find the playing and singing style a bit boring and repetitive for my taste. I like more variation within the form of a song. A few songs, like Highway 5, do have a bit more going on instrumentally, if not in form. I was going to give this a 3, but I liked the last few songs, and I have a feeling it might grow on me and work well if I'm in a bit more of a laidback, meditative mood, so I'll bump it up to a 4.

Good

Enjoyed this one a lot, I'm a sucker for folky Americana and pedal steel guitars.

I liked this album. Good early-mid 90's softer type rock. The guitar strum is so recognizable to the era along with the intentional lyrics that speak of times and people gone by. Best song is Western Sky. Honorable Mention: Jenny

I had no idea what to expect, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Lonely, Jenny

Not on spotify obvs, which I get, but it is still a shame, might have to buy a CD... I do enjoy it, and I think I could like it more if i could listen to it more.

Hidden gem

Indie slowcore.

being hard to get made it better?

Couldn't load on spotify, but listened to it on youtube and thoroughly liked it

Really good!!

It was hard to track this one down -- it's not on Spotify so I ended up streaming it from random YouTube uploads, not exactly the best way to listen to something new. I was impressed! I liked the tunes, found them reminiscent of Wilco, and then looked at the year, and wowzers, this was way ahead of its time. Definitely a great inclusion on the 1001 and a band I'm going to have to check out more thoroughly.

Good enough that I should have heard of it before, but never heard of them before.... 5/5: Blue & Grey Shirt, Jenny, 4/5: Firefly, Somewhere, Laughingstock, Lonely, Pale Skinny Girl, Now You're Defeated, Rating: 4/5

Not on Spotify, had to find on YouTube.

Sadly not on the streams where I am (at least not any more). AMC feel like a band that time forgot. They're so good, but never got their due credit. First time listening to this album and it's really good.

Indie slowcore.

Beautiful in many different ways. Definitely a slow burn, but satisfying when you warm up to it

De va nog rätt swäg

Solid indie-rock from Mark Eitzel and his band. An easy listen that is straightforward and low key, though not terribly exciting, has some fine moments with above average songwriting. This style of music isn't something I would normally rate high, but it's so much more satisfying that a majority of the albums that made this list. Nice to see it recognized.

Genre: Indie rock, slow-core Americana 1988 Standouts: Jenny, Laughingstock, Pale Skinny Girl, Firefly, Somewhere, Blue and Grey Shirt, Now You're Defeated Really need to hear more of this! 3.5

Reminds me of the Trashcan Sinatras. This isn't a bad thing.

This album was great but oh my god it was so annoying to find

This album wasn't on Apple Music which is a shame. I did find it on YouTube music but it was a fan playlist. I did really like this album and wished I could find it easier.

This one is really special, I can feel that It's bot on spotify sadly, but it is at least a strong 4

Un clàssic perdut entre les obres de culte del rock alternatiu nordamericà. Va ser publicat al 1988, però no pot sonar menys associat al seu contexte. De fet, sona totalment atemporal, una petita joia a conservar fruit del geni de Mark Eitzel, probablement en un moment personal força obscur, però a la vegada en el seu moment artístic més brillant

Spotify does not have this album, I hate that. Had to listen on Youtube which cut up the flow with stupid ads every so often. Despite that, I quite liked this album! It felt like a perfect blend of indie/alternative with little splashes of country and blues throughout. It did not feel like an album from 1988, that's for damn sure. This could have very well been released in 2010 or 2014 instead and it would have fit right in. They were either lightyears ahead of their time or genuine time travellers who decided to go back to the 80's to enjoy life again at a simpler time and just chill, making music. And if that's the case, please SHARE YOUR BACK TO THE 80'S TIME MACHINE WITH ME!!! I wanna go too.

It was difficult to hear all of it as it's not on any streaming services, which is a shame because this is one of those rare finds that I think I would like a lot. I might download it and listen properly.

Anachronistically evocative, this sure as sugar doesn’t sound like 1988. Slow/sadcore pioneers, eh? Maybe that’s why this sounds like the logical stepping stone between Husker Dū and Elliott Smith. Some of these tracks gave me goosebumps. That’s good, right? How have I never heard of them??

Enjoyable.

This album sounds like a lot of other things (Elliot Smith comes to mind at certain points on the album because of the lead vocalist's voice), but it certainly doesn't sound like it came out in 1988. I would have put it at least 5 years later than that. I liked the album, but didn't love it, but it deserves a lot of credit for doing the folky alt-country thing much earlier than a lot of the other bands that ended up sounding like them in the decade after this 4/5

Hard to find, but I found most of it on YouTube. I had never heard of these guys, but this was a nice surprise. Really nice!

Probably my fav of theirs.

Quite liked this one

Pretty solid americana adjacent music. Weird mix of 80s style vocals and more countrified vocals. Like this alot. Reminds me of Counting Crows.

Couldn’t find this on streaming but it was easily available on YouTube If you’re looking for great songwriting, this album is a great example of it The slow and dense instrumentation also adds to the depressive atmosphere Favourite tracks: Laughingstock, Lonely, Pale and Skinny Girl, Western Sky, Highway 5

Their alt-rock is more obvious and less valuable than the song architecture that stretches, emerging from words unstately laconic. So the songs get big and slow. American Music Club marks a thin and gritty lane for the record, which falls apart in the middle to be reconstituted. Home state advantage does work in the retrospective.

"California" is the third studio album by San Francisco indie rock band American Music Club. This music is an early example of Americana and alt country combining rock, punk, folk and country. All songs were written by vocalist and guitarist Mark Eitzel. The album opens with "Firefly." Slide guitar. Easy rock and you definitely get that alt country vibe you'd hear a few years later. He's losing a girl as she slips through. "Somewhere" is more rockin.' A great vocal chorus and a searing guitar solo to end the song. Eitzel delivers more sad, lonely songs in "Blue and Grey Shirt" and "Western Sky." More slide and acoustic guitars with the music creating a yearning atmosphere. They change it up a bit and go pyschedelic in "Highway 5." At this point, they needed to open it up and they did with some hard feedback guitar closing the final minute. I knew some Neil Young would show up at some point. This is a really good album. A lot of songs build slowly. It reminded me a lot of the Red House Painters and Silver Jews in that respect with the slowcore approach to songs. Very earnest, heartfelt lyrics and music. Maybe, they were a few years ahead of the Americana curve. But, who knows if this would have ever gained a widespread audience. Anyway, an album most everyone, I think, would like to some extent.

I'll give this a better rating when I can figure out what the fuck is happening on the cover

Couldn’t find California on Apple but was intrigued by a different album. I’ll return to them but I think they’re really good 3.5

2.75

Classic Americana, songs of death and loss and tears and yearning with nods to Springsteen along the way.

I thought it was going to be some new wave album and it wasn’t, so that’s cool. Still, it’s good, but not something I’m dying to relisten to anytime soon.

Aivan kelpo klassikko-rock-levy, ei enempää eikä vähempää.

Album 602 of 1001 American Music Club -California (1988) Rating : 3.5 / 5 This is a pretty good album. An introspective and melancholic tone. I appreciated the emotional depth and the band's ability to convey a sense of despair and longing. Nice chill album to relax with.

There was a chunk of this that felt like a mediocre Morrissey impersonator singing over new country. Some decent compositions. I probably won't come back.

Unfortunately this isn't available to listen to in Spotify. I did find it in youtube though. I like it! (new to me)

Strong album of Americana and folk rock. Some twang, some hard rock (“Bad Liquor” was a banger!) and a gritty style. The lead singer reminded me of a newer artist I like called David Nance.

Overall: 5/10 This isn't a bad album, but it feels lackluster compared to so many other great albums in this list. They're like R.E.M. with a bland vocalist, and if you saw my review from yesterday you would know that I'm not a huge fan of R.E.M. I got some enjoyment from this but it doesn't belong in the list when so many other great albums we're passed over for this. Fav Song: Laughingstock Least Fav Song: Bad Liquor

I enjoyed every song on this fine Americana-Indie album. I am annoyed that Tidal doesn't haveit, something I don't understand, so I had to listen to it on Youtube. Oh well that inconvenience aside. A very nice album...just annoying that I can't stream it in my usual way. 3.5 stars

Firefly or somewhere

Another band I've never heard of. Album is fine but nothing stands out to me.

This sounds like a precursor to alt country, but it's missing something that didn't allow me to get fully into it. Good songs.