On the songwriting landscape, Mark Eitzel has been consigned to a dark, shady corner, the result of about a dozen American Music Club records filled with tunes that painstakingly detailed the emotional life of the urban romantic. The artists contributing to Come On Beautiful pledge allegiance to AMC, offering passionate tributes to a band that only flirted with getting the recognition it deserved.
They include Ida, which can probably relate to AMC's plight; on their own, the New York band's members create soft, usually haunting music, similar to the San Francisco-spawned band they're covering. As such, "What Holds The World Together" kicks off the compilation in an appropriate mood, evoking Eitzel's struggle between desperation and hope. Though Eitzel's too urban to be called a cowboy, the city boy clearly studied his country songwriting. AMC tunes such as "Gary's Song" and "Heavenly Smile" (neither of which get covered here) sounded more Nashville than Northern California, so it's not such a surprise that Calexico, Lambchop, Willard Grant Conspiracy, Tarnation's Paula Frazer, and the Walkabouts' Chris & Carla are represented here.
Their selections lean toward AMC's pop/torch songs, though each brings a degree of rootsiness. M. Ward, a Howe Gelb protege, turns in one of the highlights, a take on "Fearless" that gives the song a folky stomp. Indie denizens Jenny Toomey ("Last Harbor") and Superchunk-side-project Portastatic ("Firefly") also stray from their character a bit to adapt their songs, helping to cement a lively, worthwhile tribute to a band with rare depth, a band that ended too soon.
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