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Due to its relative rareness and its inability to stay in print, here’s a record that you’ll probably never hear. If you’re unfamiliar with American Music Club, this isn’t necessarily the best means of introduction anyway, but it still has its moments, and it qualifies as a reasonably solid first album. The Restless Stranger sounds exactly as you might imagine a San Francisco-based band to sound in the mid-eighties, full of angular, wrenching arrangements and analytical, self-deprecating lyrics that are more than a step or two removed from the mainstream. It also displays the diversity of the band’s range, veering from the melancholy sadness of “Room Above the Club” and “Away Down My Street” to the wrenching catharsis of “$1,000,000 Song” and “Mr. Lucky.” Singer Mark Eitzel remains interesting throughout, whether he’s sympathizing with the losers who populate his songs (“Yvonne Gets Dumped”) or flagellating himself over some self-perceived shortcoming (“Point of Desire”).
Despite the subject matter, Eitzel never sounds as though he is ranting uncontrollably, since his words are usually well grounded in intriguing melodies, while the band arrangements remain simultaneously understated and provocative. At times, the band sounds a bit like early-eighties Cure, with lopsided chords echoing behind a forlorn melody, but ultimately, the American Music Club is too original to retain anything quite so derivative. Any such comparison is thoroughly trashed by the inclusion of the acoustic blues of “Heavenly Smile” and the ethereal energy of the title track (actually, a bonus track on the CD release). To hear the band at its most original and expressive peak, pick up a copy of Mercury. If you appreciate that, then search this out; it will be worth the effort.
Grade: 
 
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