Eels

On the third album under his nom de disque of Eels, Mark Oliver Everett, a.k.a. “E,” aims for the kind of comfortable, well-worn-leather-shoe, plates-on-the-floor-so-the-dog-can-finish-the-meal kind of record. It’s kinda like Beck’s Mutations with more coffee and less cough syrup and with nice, dirty, cigarette butts in the bong-water sonics on the noisier tunes. Everett’s a kinder, gentler version of Cracker/Camper Van Beethoven frontman David Lowery—yeah, he’s a bit of a smartass, but so what? If you could write sunny singalongs like “Saturday Morning” and “Dirty Girl,” you’d be, too. But it’s the downer tunes that make this one a keeper, like “Agony,” “Rock Hard Times” and “All In a Day’s Work.” Plus, any record with Joe Gore and Lisa Germano playing backup is worth a listen.