American Music Club was an American, San Francisco-based

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band, led by singer-songwriter

Mark Eitzel Mark Eitzel (born January 30, 1959) is an American musician, best known as a songwriter and lead singer of the San Francisco band American Music Club. Biography Eitzel spent his formative years in a military family living in Okinawa, Taiwan, Ohi ...

. Formed in 1983, the band released seven albums before splitting up in 1995. They reformed in 2003 and released two further albums.

History

Although born in California, Eitzel spent his formative years in

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

(Japan),

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

(the United Kingdom) and

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

(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. The band went through many personnel changes before arriving at a stable line up of guitarist

Vudi Vudi is the nickname of Mark Pankler (born 22 September 1952, Chicago), guitarist with San Francisco based indie rock band American Music Club. He is also the vocalist and guitarist in San Francisco based indie rock band Clovis de Floret. He al ...

(Mark Pankler), bassist Danny Pearson, keyboardist Brad Johnson and drummer Matt Norelli. This lineup would change over the next several years, 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. Their 1985 debut, ''

The Restless Stranger ''The Restless Stranger'' is the first album by American Music Club, released in 1985. It is considered to be the first slowcore album to be released. Track listing All songs written by Mark Eitzel. Tracks 13-15 are bonus tracks on the CD reissue ...

'', released on Grifter Records, is widely considered as the first

slowcore Slowcore is a subgenre of alternative rock and indie rock. The music of slowcore artists is generally characterized by bleak lyrics, downbeat melodies, slower tempos and minimalist arrangements. Slowcore is often used interchangeably with the t ...

release, establishing the band as major pioneers of slowcore and an early influence on

post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...

. It was later followed by 1987's ''

Engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

'' which saw record producer Tom Mallon as a full-time member. American Music Club earned a solid cult following in Europe on the strength of 1988's ''

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

''. Their next LP, 1989's ''

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

'', was a UK-only release comprising new material, some of which was recorded live at the Hotel Utah in San Francisco. These two albums were described by Ian Canadine in ''Rock: The Rough Guide'' as "the band's two unequivocal masterpieces". In 1991 American Music Club released '' Everclear'', which has been described as "more polished and radio-friendly" compared to the previous albums, with David Sprague, writing for ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'' stating the "slickened production works against the band", but as the band's masterpiece by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

writer Jason Ankeny. Critical acclaim attracted the attention of several major labels. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' called it the Album of the Year and named Eitzel Songwriter of the Year for 1991. Eventually, AMC—now consisting of Eitzel, Vudi, Pearson, multi-instrumentalist Bruce Kaphan and drummer

Tim Mooney Tim Mooney (October 6, 1958 – June 13, 2012) was an American drummer, producer, and sound engineer. He drummed in the Sleepers, Toiling Midgets, Negative Trend, Sun Kil Moon and American Music Club. Musical career In the 1970s and 1980s, ...

—signed with

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any repea ...

in the US and

Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

throughout the rest of the world. The band contributed the track "All Your Jeans Were Too Tight" to the 1993 AIDS-Benefit Album ''

No Alternative ''No Alternative'' is an alternative rock compilation album produced by Paul Heck and Chris Mundy. It was released in 1993 to benefit AIDS relief. The album features original tracks and cover versions from bands who went on to define the alter ...

'' produced by the

Red Hot Organization Red Hot Organization (RHO) is a not-for-profit, 501(c) 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture. Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilati ...

. The album ''

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

'', produced by

Mitchell Froom Mitchell Froom (born June 29, 1953) is an American musician and record producer. He was a member of the bands Gamma (band), Gamma and Latin Playboys, and is currently the keyboardist for Crowded House. He has produced albums for several artists, ...

, followed in 1993 and, despite positive reviews (although Canadine considered it over-produced), the album only reached number 41 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

and got little radio and television exposure. In 1994, AMC issued ''

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

'', which balanced confessional tunes like "Fearless" and "The Thorn in My Side Is Gone" alongside more accessible offerings such as "Wish the World Away". The band disbanded in 1995, with Eitzel concentrating on his solo career, having already released a solo live album and en EP as side projects. Vudi subsequently formed Clovis de la Floret while working as a bus driver in Los Angeles. The band reunited in 2003, with Eitzel joined by Pearson and Mooney, and later Vudi and keyboard player Marc Capelle, to record a new album, '' Love Songs for Patriots'' (released in 2004), which is described by AllMusic reviewer Mark Deming as "a stronger and more coherent effort than the group's last set, 1994's ''San Francisco'', and while it's too early to tell if this is a new start or a last hurrah for AMC, it at least shows that their formula still yields potent results. Here's hoping Eitzel and Vudi have more where this came from." A performance in Pittsburgh on November 10, 2004, was released as a live CD, ''A Toast To You'', on January 1, 2005. The band then consisted of Eitzel, Vudi, Pearson, Mooney, with Jason Borger on keyboards. On June 20, 2007, AMC announced a new lineup connected to the band's base of operations moving to Los Angeles. Eitzel and Vudi remained, while Mooney and Pearson stayed behind in San Francisco. They were replaced by bassist Sean Hoffman and drummer Steve Didelot from the band the Larks. AMC's next record, entitled '' The Golden Age'', was released in the UK on February 4, 2008, on

Cooking Vinyl Cooking Vinyl is a British independent record label, based in Acton, London, England, founded in 1986 by former manager and booking agent Martin Goldschmidt and business partner Pete Lawrence. Goldschmidt remains the current owner and chairman ...

and in the US on February 19 on

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expande ...

. The band split up again around 2010. Tim Mooney died of a blood clot in June 2012; he was 53. Tom Mallon died after a long battle with brain cancer on January 9, 2014; he was 57.

Discography

Albums

Studio

Live

* ''A Toast To You – Live in Pittsburgh, PA, November 10, 2004'' (January 2005), Undertow

Compilations

Singles and EPs

References

External links

* (archived)
Mark Eitzel
official website
American Music Club collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

's live music archive {{Authority control Indie rock musical groups from California Folk rock groups from California Musical groups from San Francisco Musical groups established in 1982 Musical groups disestablished in 1994 Musical groups reestablished in 2004 Sadcore and slowcore groups Cooking Vinyl artists Merge Records artists Reprise Records artists Virgin Records artists Warner Records artists American musical trios 1982 establishments in California