American Music Club

American Music Club was an American, San Francisco-based indie rock band, led by singer-songwriter Mark Eitzel. Formed in 1982, the band released seven albums before splitting up in 1995. They reformed in 2003 and released two further albums before splitting up again in 2010.

History

Roots and initial formation

Although born in California, Eitzel spent his formative years in Okinawa (Japan), Taiwan, Southampton (the United Kingdom) and Ohio (United States) before returning to the Bay Area in 1981. After a brief stint with the bands The Cowboys (one single: "Supermarket"/"Teenage Life") and The Naked Skinnies (one single) he founded American Music Club in San Francisco in 1983 with guitarist Scott Alexander, drummer Greg Bonnell and bass player Brad Johnson.

Initially an art-punk band with a strong performance art element, American Music Club eventually ditched those initial stylings and began to incorporate roots music elements including folk-rock and country music. The band went through many personnel changes before arriving at a consistent line up of Eitzel on vocals, guitar and songwriting, guitarist Vudi (Mark Pankler), bassist/mandolinist Danny Pearson and drummer Matt Norelli, with founder member Johnson moving to keyboards. This line-up would change over the next several years (with drummers in particular coming and going, notably Tim Mooney), but Eitzel always remained the core of the band in terms of its vocals, lyrics and thematic focus, with Vudi and Pearson accompanying him on guitar and bass. Eitzel's performance style remained spontaneous, emotional, unguardedly volatile and sometimes destructive, with the other musicians concentrating on providing a stable musical framework for his songs.

Early records: The Restless Stranger and Engine (1985-1987)

American Music Club's 1985 debut, The Restless Stranger, released on Grifter Records, mixed post-punk and country elements and is widely considered as the first slowcore release, establishing the band as major pioneers of slowcore and an early influence on post-rock. With Johnson and Norelli departing (although the latter continued to help out on recording sessions), the band followed up The Restless Stranger with 1987's Engine, a more diverse and exploratory release which saw the band experiment further with roots rock, melodic hardcore and all points in between.

The Engine sessions saw Tom Mallon, the band's record producer and engineer, gradually join as a full-time member. A multi-instrumentalist who'd made multiple uncredited instrumental additions and alterations to American Music Club's tracks while producing them, Mallon initially joined as drummer, although his ongoing producer's role and notorious perfectionism also gave him a more prominent role within the band (and also created tension).

California and United Kingdom (1987-1990)

American Music Club earned a solid cult following in Europe on the strength of 1988's more folk and country-tinged California. In an attempt to tighten up the band's music when performing live, Lisa Davis (who'd played on California's opening track "Firefly") was recruited as the full-time bass player, allowing Pearson to concentrate on rhythm guitar and mandolin so that Eitzel, in turn, could concentrate on singing. Davis' stint was short-lived, in part due to a combustible relationship with Mallon which ultimately resulted in her departure. Mallon then moved to bass guitar (his preferred role) while Mike Simms was recruited as the new drummer.

The band's next LP, 1989's United Kingdom, was a UK-only release comprising new material, some of which was recorded live at the Hotel Utah in San Francisco. California and United Kingdom would later be described by Ian Canadine in Rock: The Rough Guide as "the band's two unequivocal masterpieces".

Following the release of United Kingdom, American Music Club fell out terminally with Tom Mallon during a band rehearsal. Mallon then kicked them out of the studio, quit the band and cut ties with them. Disheartened at the loss of a steady line-up, plus their recording and production arrangements, the band temporarily dispersed. Eitzel joined art-punks Toiling Midgets, writing and recording the Son album with them. About a year later, American Music Club reconvened, enticing Eitzel back, returning Pearson to bass and adding multi-instrumentalist Bruce Kaphan (who'd previously guested on pedal steel guitar on California, and who now added the instrument full-time to the band in addition to keyboards, dulcimer and extra guitars).