Everclear: Welcome To The Drama Club : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

It's been a rough couple of years for Nineties alt-rocker Art Alexakis. In 2003, the last two original members of Everclear quit after years of intraband tension, and Alexakis got divorced for a third time and was forced to declare bankruptcy after finding himself more than $3 million in debt. It's the latter fact that seems to have motivated him to recruit four new bandmates and dub them "Everclear" -- even though the group now contains fewer original members than the current incarnation of the New York Dolls. Seemingly every track on this comeback LP contains nothing but raw bile toward those who have wronged Alexakis. "I spent the last year walking through the fire/And now I do believe it's my turn to shine," Alexakis sings on the ultrasappy "Now," which sounds like something a Gin Blossoms cover band might write after deciding to compose its own material. "Hater" begins with a spoken- word intro decrying Alexakis' ubiquitous haters before collapsing into what sounds like the worst Weezer song ever.