Eels (often typeset as eels or EELS) is an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band formed in Los Angeles in 1991 by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist

Mark Oliver Everett Mark Oliver Everett, also known by his stage name E (born April 10, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and the frontman of the rock band Eels (band), Eels. He is known for writing songs tackling subjects such as dea ...

, known by the stage name E. Band members have changed over the years, both in the studio and on stage, making Everett the only official member for most of the band's work. Eels' music is often filled with themes of family, death, and unrequited love. Since 1996, Eels has released fifteen studio albums, seven of which entered the ''Billboard'' 200.

History

E solo records

In 1991, Everett signed a contract with

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

and released '' A Man Called E'' under the name E a year later. The single "Hello Cruel World" was a minor success. Touring to support the album, E opened for

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

. ''A Man Called E'' was followed by '' Broken Toy Shop'' in 1993. This year also marked the beginning of E's collaboration with drummer Jonathan "Butch" Norton. After ''Broken Toy Shop'', E was released from his record deal with

. E has performed two of the songs from ''Broken Toy Shop'' ("The Only Thing I Care About" and "Manchester Girl") for his own live shows with Eels.

''Beautiful Freak''

Eels were officially founded when Butch and E met Tommy Walter. The name "Eels" was chosen so that the band's records would be close to E's solo records in an alphabetical ordering, although it was too late once they realized that numerous

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

and

Earth, Wind and Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (abbreviated as EW&F or EWF) is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling ba ...

releases were in between. "I went to the Virgin Megastore and I see the E CDs right at the beginning of the E section," Everett recalled on the ''Naked Lunch'' podcast with

Phil Rosenthal Philip Rosenthal (born January 27, 1960) is an American television writer and producer who is the creator, writer, and executive producer of the CBS sitcom ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' (1996–2005). In recent years, he has presented food and t ...

and

David Wild David Wild (born December 16, 1961) is an American writer and critic in the music and television industries and a contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. His published books include ''Friends: The Official Companion'' (1995), ''Sein ...

. "And then there's like, 28 Earth, Wind and Fire lbums 40 Eagles lbums-- they're nowhere near each other!" Eels became one of the first groups to sign a record deal with

DreamWorks Records DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Mo Ostin, his son Michael Ostin and Lenny Waronker as a subsidiary of DreamWorks Pictures. The label opera ...

, followed by

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known as Elliott Smith, was an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of his life in Portland, Oregon, whe ...

. In 1996, the band released their debut album ''

Beautiful Freak ''Beautiful Freak'' is the debut album by American rock band Eels. It was released on 13 August 1996 and is the second album released by record label DreamWorks. Background ''Beautiful Freak'' is the first album using the full band name Eels, ...

''. The singles " Novocaine for the Soul", " Susan's House" and " Your Lucky Day in Hell" achieved modest national and international success, with the band winning the Best International Breakthrough Act award at the

1998 BRIT Awards Brit Awards 1998 was the 18th edition of the Brit Awards, an annual pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, a ...

. The single Susan's House was extremely popular in the UK, in part due to its stylistic resemblance to the then-popular

trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

genre, with its slow tempo, subdued melody, and distorted spoken-word vocals. In 1996 and 1997, Eels toured extensively to support the album, building their name as a live act in the United States and Europe. In September 1997, Walter quit the band. Released in May 2001, the motion picture soundtrack for the movie ''

Shrek ''Shrek'' is a 2001 American animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, loosely based on the 1990 children's picture boo ...

'' included the song " My Beloved Monster".

''Electro-Shock Blues''

Following the success of ''Beautiful Freak'', E experienced a difficult time in his personal life. His sister died by suicide, and his mother was diagnosed with cancer. These events inspired Eels' second album, 1998's '' Electro-Shock Blues''. The album deals with many difficult subjects, including cancer, mental illness, suicide and death. The tragedy of Everett's father's death became prominent once more in the context of his mother's impending death and his sister's suicide, and as a result the song "Baby Genius" is written for his father

Hugh Everett III Hugh Everett III (; November 11, 1930 – July 19, 1982) was an American physicist who proposed the relative state interpretation of quantum mechanics. This influential approach later became the basis of the many-worlds interpretation (MWI). Ev ...

. Contributions to the album were made by

Jon Brion Jon Brion (born December 11, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and The Grays (band), the Grays before becoming an established pro ...

Lisa Germano Lisa Ruth Germano (born June 27, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Indiana. Her album '' Geek the Girl'' (1994) was named one of the best albums of the 1990s by ''Spin'' magazine. She began her career as a viol ...

, Jim Jacobsen, Grant-Lee Phillips, Dust Brother Michael Simpson, and

T-Bone Burnett Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett III (born January 14, 1948) is an American record producer, guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the 1970s. Burnett has won several Grammy Awards for his work on film sou ...

. The single " Last Stop: This Town" saw minor success, while " Cancer for the Cure", the second single from the album, appeared on the soundtrack for '' American Beauty'' (1999). Still a three-piece band on stage, Tommy Walter was replaced by Adam Siegel. Part of the American leg of the tour was canceled after the death of E's mother. They returned to tour Europe later in the year, to open for

Pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit * Pulp (band), an English rock band Engineering * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture ...

''Daisies of the Galaxy''

In 2000, Eels released '' Daisies of the Galaxy''. The album, which was recorded almost entirely in E's basement, is lighter and more upbeat than its predecessor. Everett noted, "if ''Electro-Shock Blues'' was the phone call in the middle of the night that the world doesn't want to answer, then ''Daisies of the Galaxy'' is the hotel wake-up call that says your lovely breakfast is ready". He was joined in the studio by Michael Simpson (

Dust Brothers The Dust Brothers are a pair of songwriters and producers consisting of E.Z. Mike ( Michael Simpson) and King Gizmo ( John King). They are famous for the sample-based music they produced in the 1980s and 1990s, and specifically for their work ...

), Grant-Lee Phillips ( Grant Lee Buffalo), and

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.; he played the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his caree ...

(

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

). The first single, " Mr. E's Beautiful Blues", was co-written by Simpson. The song was not intended to be on the album, but the record company insisted on its inclusion. Therefore, it was not featured on the track listing but was instead listed on the cover sticker as a bonus track, separated from the rest of the album by 20 seconds of silence. To promote ''Daisies of the Galaxy'', another tour took place across the United States and Europe, with the band also playing their first concerts in Australia. For these performances, Eels were transformed into a 6-piece orchestra, including

and Probyn Gregory. E also played some solo shows, opening for

Fiona Apple Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. She released five albums from 1996 to 2020, all of which reached the top 20 on the U.S. Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200 chart. As of 2021, she has sold over ...

''Souljacker'' and ''Shootenanny!''

In 2001, '' Souljacker'' was released, an album with a heavier feel and more rock-oriented sound than ''Daisies of the Galaxy''.

John Parish John Parish (born 11 April 1959) is an English musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. Parish is best known for his work with singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. He has also worked with such artists as Eels, Aldous Harding, Tracy Chapm ...

, previously of

PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer-songwriter. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined local band Automat ...

's band, co-wrote most of the songs and played guitar on the album and first part of the tour. After Parish became a father, he was replaced with Joe Gore for the American leg of the Bus Driving, Band Rocking Tour. Koool G Murder played bass and keyboards and joined Eels on tour. 2003 marked the release of the album '' Shootenanny!''. E now refers to the album as a break from recording the following ''Blinking Lights'' album. It was recorded live in the studio in only ten days. "Saturday Morning" was released as a single. Butch was replaced on drums by Puddin'. In 2003, Eels embarked upon another big tour, called the Tour of Duty. The live band consisted of E, Goldenboy (guitar), Koool G Murder (bass) and Puddin' (drums). Later that year, E composed the score for the film '' Levity''.

''Blinking Lights and Other Revelations'' and ''Eels with Strings''

Eels' next album, '' Blinking Lights and Other Revelations'', was released on April 26, 2005, and was the band's first release for new label

Vagrant Records Vagrant Records is an American record label based in California. It was founded in 1995 by Rich Egan and Jon Cohen. The label focuses on rock music, rock, but features artists in a variety of other genres including folk music, folk, soul music, so ...

. It is a 33-track double album. Contributions were made by

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...

, Peter Buck,

John Sebastian John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who founded the rock band the Lovin' Spoonful in 1964 with Zal Yanovsky. During his time in the Lovin Spoonful, Sebastian wrote and sang some of the ban ...

(

The Lovin' Spoonful The Lovin' Spoonful is a Canadian-American folk-rock band formed in Greenwich Village, New York City, in 1964. The band were among the most popular groups in the United States for a short period in the mid-1960s and their music and image influ ...

), Jim Jacobsen, and Butch. The first tour in support of the ''Blinking Lights'' album, billed as Eels with Strings, featured primarily performances by E on acoustic guitar,

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

or piano, backed by Allen "Big Al" Hunter on piano and

upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

, Jeffrey Lyster (also known as Chet Atkins III or "The Chet") on guitar,

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

pedal steel The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

musical saw A musical saw, also called a singing saw, is a hand saw used as a musical instrument. Capable of continuous glissando (portamento), the sound creates an ethereal tone, very similar to the theremin. The musical saw is classified as a plaque frict ...

and drums, and a string quartet consisting of

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ists Paloma Udovic and Julie Carpenter, violist Heather Lockie and

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

Ana Lenchantin. The tour resulted in a live album, '' Eels with Strings: Live at Town Hall'', recorded in New York City. The performance includes tracks from all of their albums, and was released on CD and DVD on February 21, 2006.

''Meet the Eels: Essential Eels Vol. I'' and ''Useless Trinkets''

In early 2008, Eels released their first "greatest hits" compilation as well as a compilation of

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

, rarities, soundtrack singles and unreleased tracks. '' Meet the Eels: Essential Eels Vol. I'' spans the first decade of the Eels, including singles from all their albums, as well as a DVD featuring music videos and one live performance video. '' Useless Trinkets'' contains 50 B-sides and rarities and a DVD of their

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza () is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991, with Chicago becoming its permanent location beginning in 2005. Music genres i ...

2006 performances. To promote the releases, the band went on a world tour, An Evening With Eels. This time, only the Chet joined E on stage, both playing a broad cross-section from the Eels repertoire on a variety of instruments. The concerts also featured the Chet reading excerpts from E's 2008 autobiography, '' Things the Grandchildren Should Know''. On this tour, the band released a live CD/DVD package of Eels' 2006 performance at the ''

London Astoria The London Astoria was a music venue at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England, that operated from 1976 to 2009. Originally a warehouse during the 1920s, the building became a cinema and ballroom. It was converted for use as a theatre in t ...

'', '' Live and in Person!'', documenting a show from the second tour in support of ''Blinking Lights and Other Revelations''. The soundtrack of the 2008 comedy film '' Yes Man'' features nine songs by Eels, including "Man Up", a brand new song.

Concept album trilogy: ''Hombre Lobo'', ''End Times'', and ''Tomorrow Morning''

'' Hombre Lobo,'' the seventh Eels studio album, was released on June 2, 2009. The album comprises twelve new songs. "Hombre Lobo" is Spanish for "wolf man" or "werewolf" and references E's unusually long beard, which he originally grew when writing the song "Dog Faced Boy". On March 31, 2009, the band made the track " Fresh Blood" available on

Spinner Spinner may refer to: Technology * Spinner (aeronautics), the aerodynamic cone at the hub of an aircraft propeller * Spinner (cell culture), laboratory equipment for cultivating plant or mammalian cells * Spinner (computing), a graphical widget in ...

, explaining that the song would be the lead single for the album. A

Jesse Dylan Jesse Byron Dylan (born January 6, 1966) is an American film director and production executive. He is the founder of the media production company Wondros and Lybba, a non-profit organization. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relat ...

-directed music video was released on April 29, 2009, as well, and the track would become the theme song of the 2015

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

documentary miniseries ''The Jinx''. The album was released as a single-disc CD and a deluxe edition with a DVD. In September 2009, Eels released a music video for "That Look You Give That Guy", featuring Bobby Jr., E and ''

Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition television series which premiered on Bravo in March 2006. The show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges. The contestants are judged by a panel of professional chefs ...

'' host

Padma Lakshmi Padma Parvati Lakshmi (; née Vaidynathan; born September 1, 1970) is an American television host, model, author, businesswoman, and activist. She rose to prominence by hosting the Bravo cooking competition program '' Top Chef'' (2006–2023). ...

. While promoting this album, Eels released the live EP '' The Myspace Transmissions Session 2009'' on October 14, 2009. That same day, the band's website announced that a new Eels album entitled '' End Times'' would be released on January 19, 2010. It was largely recorded on a four-track recorder and is based on the themes of broken love. Three album tracks—"Little Bird", "In My Younger Days", and " A Line in the Dirt"—were made available as music videos or promotional downloads prior to the release of the album. Once again, Butch contributed drums to "A Line in the Dirt". On January 19, 2010, ''End Times'' was released. E made no comment on touring and there was no tour scheduled to begin. A second album was announced on May 20, 2010: '' Tomorrow Morning'' was described as the "final installment of a trilogy that began with ''Hombre Lobo'' and ''End Times''." The three albums respectively explore themes of desire, loss, and redemption. A world tour, the first since 2007's An Evening With Eels tour, was announced at the same time. This tour once again featured the Chet on various instruments, alongside Koool G Murder on bass, trilogy drummer Knuckles on drums and a new member, P-Boo, on guitar.

''Wonderful, Glorious'' and ''The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett''

On February 5, 2013, the 10th Eels studio album was released, entitled '' Wonderful, Glorious''. The first single from the album, "Peach Blossom", premiered on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

on November 6, 2012. A month later, on December 4, 2012, the official video was released on

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

. The second single, "New Alphabet", was streamed pre-release on December 12, 2012, on

On March 25, 2013, the band released a parody music video called " Cold Dead Hand" through

Funny or Die Funny or Die, Inc. is a comedy video website and production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy in 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a regular staf ...

, with

Jim Carrey James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian and American actor and comedian. Known primarily for his energetic slapstick performances, he has received two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for BAFTA Awards and ...

replacing E on vocals. The song and video, set as a musical act during the variety program ''

Hee Haw ''Hee Haw'' is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with the fictional rural "Kornfield Kounty" as the backdrop. It aired from 1969 to 1993, and on TNN from 1996 to 1997. Reruns of the series were broadcast on ...

'', lampoons American gun culture, and specifically

Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923 – April 5, 2008) was an American actor. He gained stardom for his leading man roles in numerous Cinema of the United States, Hollywood films including biblical epics, science-fiction f ...

, former President of the

National Rifle Association of America The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

. Eels' eleventh studio album, '' The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett'', was released on April 21, 2014, on E Works Records. In April 2015, the band released the DVD and double live album '' Live at the Royal Albert Hall''. In 2015, Eels created their own version of Melanie De Biasio's track "I Feel You" for the album ''

Gilles Peterson Gilles Jérôme Moehrle MBE (; born 28 September 1964), better known as Gilles Peterson (), is a broadcaster, DJ, record label and festival owner. He is renowned for his genre-defying approach to music with jazz at its core. From this base he ...

Presents – No Deal Remixed''. The track was later used to promote the 2017 film '' Alien: Covenant'', directed by

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...

, and appears during the entire in-universe short movie ''Meet Walter'' starring

Michael Fassbender Michael Fassbender (; born 2 April 1977) is a German-Irish actor. His accolades include nominations for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was listed at number nine on ''The Irish Ti ...

''The Deconstruction'' and ''Earth to Dora''

On January 17, 2018, Eels announced their 12th studio album, '' The Deconstruction'', to be released on April 6, 2018, their first in nearly four years. They also announced a supporting tour throughout the United States and Europe, beginning in Pomona, California on May 28, 2018. The album travels through many styles sonically, but its lyrics primarily deal with rebuilding one's life and looking back on what went wrong. Singles include (in release order) the title track, "Today Is the Day", "Premonition", and "Bone Dry". Styles present on the album include orchestral pop, power pop, psychedelic pop/rock, indie/alternative rock and post-modern pop. The band's next release was the single "Baby Let's Make It Real"/"Who You Say You Are", announced on September 1, 2020. These songs were featured on the subsequent studio album, '' Earth to Dora'' (2020).

''Extreme Witchcraft'' and ''Eels Time!''

On September 21, 2021, it was announced that the 14th Eels album would be called '' Extreme Witchcraft'' and would be released on January 28, 2022. The album was produced by E and John Parish in their first collaboration since 2001's ''Souljacker''. '' Eels So Good: Essential Eels, Vol. 2 (2007–2020)'' came out in late 2023. On February 29, 2024, the band announced '' Eels Time!'', which was released on June 7.

Members

Eels have had a number of lineup changes supporting E since their formation, and in recent years the live band has often differed from the musicians on the albums. Koool G Murder has been credited on bass and production on recent albums, although Big Al has fulfilled the role of bassist during the live shows.

Timeline

Discography

As E

*'' A Man Called E'' (1992) *'' Broken Toy Shop'' (1993)

As Eels

*''

'' (1996) *'' Electro-Shock Blues'' (1998) *'' Daisies of the Galaxy'' (2000) *'' Souljacker'' (2001) *'' Shootenanny!'' (2003) *'' Blinking Lights and Other Revelations'' (2005) *'' Hombre Lobo'' (2009) *'' End Times'' (2010) *'' Tomorrow Morning'' (2010) *'' Wonderful, Glorious'' (2013) *'' The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett'' (2014) *'' The Deconstruction'' (2018) *'' Earth to Dora'' (2020) *'' Extreme Witchcraft'' (2022) *'' Eels Time!'' (2024)

References

External links

* * * *
Eels on SoundCloud
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eels 1995 establishments in California Brit Award winners DreamWorks Records artists Indie rock musical groups from California Musical collectives Musical groups established in 1995 Musical groups from Los Angeles Vagrant Records artists PIAS Recordings artists SpinART Records artists