Play American Music Club Radio
American Music Club
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San Francisco, United States (1983 – present)
American Music Club (often abbreviated AMC) is a San Francisco-based band led by singer-songwriter Mark Eitzel. They’ve been recording and playing in SF clubs since the mid 1980’s, showing a remarkable longevity for a band that has been far more critically acclaimed than financially successful.
Although commonly lumped with other bands from the “slowcore” and “sadcore” movements, like the Red House Painters, AMC is better known for mastering the disparate strands of American music into a wholly unique synthesis all their own.
Although born in California, frontman Mark Eitzel spent his formative years in Great Britain and Ohio before returning to the Bay Area in 1980. After a brief stint with the punk band The Naked Skinnies he founded American Music Club in 1983 with guitarist Vudi, bassist Dan 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.
Their 1985 debut, The Restless Stranger, offers a rough outline of their increasingly eclectic sound and firmly established Eitzel’s worldview, a harrowing vision of life as seen through the bottom of a shot glass. 1987’s Engine honed the formula: the addition of producer Tom Mallon as a full-time member expanded the group’s sonic palette.
American Music Club earned a solid cult following on the strength of 1988’s California. Their next LP, 1989’s United Kingdom, appeared only in the nation which lent the record its name and consisted of leftover material and live tracks.
Although commonly lumped with other bands from the “slowcore” and “sadcore” movements, like the Red House Painters, AMC is better known for mastering the disparate strands of American music into a wholly unique synthesis all their own.
Although born in California, frontman Mark Eitzel spent his formative years in Great Britain and Ohio before returning to the Bay Area in 1980. After a brief stint with the punk band The Naked Skinnies he founded American Music Club in 1983 with guitarist Vudi, bassist Dan 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.
Their 1985 debut, The Restless Stranger, offers a rough outline of their increasingly eclectic sound and firmly established Eitzel’s worldview, a harrowing vision of life as seen through the bottom of a shot glass. 1987’s Engine honed the formula: the addition of producer Tom Mallon as a full-time member expanded the group’s sonic palette.
American Music Club earned a solid cult following on the strength of 1988’s California. Their next LP, 1989’s United Kingdom, appeared only in the nation which lent the record its name and consisted of leftover material and live tracks.
Top Albums
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Love Songs for Patriots
American Music ClubBuy- Download Album
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Mercury
American Music ClubBuy- Download Album
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United Kingdom+California
American Music Club
Buy- Download Album
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Top Tracks
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Why Won't You Stay
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Rise
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Ex-Girlfriend
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Goodbye to Love
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Miracle On 8Th Street
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Sick of Food
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| 7 |
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The Dead Part of You
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The Confidential Agent
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Crabwalk
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Royal Cafe
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Shoutbox
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poor-de-chirico wrote:
I really don't hear the resemblance between this Mark and the other one (Kozelek). They're both lyrically honest, sure, and maybe it's the appreciation/presentation of the American landscape and culture through their music, but not really stylistically as far as I can tell.
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earthmp wrote:
I Just Took My Two Sleeping Pills And Now I'm Like A Bridegroom Standing At The Altar :-)
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Uniontrade wrote:
The Revolving Door - is so underrated but the people can discovery it and enjoy so much
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lady_godivas wrote:
Western sky :)
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eyesaresmiles wrote:
Weird. Not one of their best 10 songs in their top 20 tracks. That's gotta be a first..
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Uniontrade wrote:
Amazing band....
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an_outlaw wrote:
these guys really do have some beautiful music : )
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riigo wrote:
no, he's right. crabwalk is shit
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Cary- wrote:
Another Morning makes me think of Nick Drake...
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roomx wrote:
+ trivia?
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HesterCurtis wrote:
and i handed him a book, with sorrow in my eyes. And the title seemed all good; it was the insiders guide to life.
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ThatGuyWho wrote:
I have it now, some real cool dude sent it to me, whoever it was. Listened to Mercury again recently. Brilliant.
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intopines wrote:
ThatGuyWho - Maybe you could find it in a shop? Or check Itunes? Pay! nickvb - It's all fun. Not shit. indie_asleep - http://www.americanmusicclub.com/
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Touchmetallic wrote:
firefly is great man..."all my love" is my personal favorite...
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rossdouglas wrote:
Where the hang is Firefly?
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Spumco wrote:
I lament that they have been labeled sadcore but can't argue the fact that their music make me want to crawl into fetal position and cry.
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nickvb wrote:
crabwalk is such a shit song
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ThatGuyWho wrote:
If anybody could find me a torrent for Engine, or send me the album, I will forever be in your debt.
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nickvb wrote:
uhh yeah it was while ago when i downloaded their stuff. can probably find with a bit of digging. this band is really good. like red house painters except i can listen to all of their songs rather than just one or two per album
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Lachlan_Willis wrote:
Last Harbor really should be in the top 15. Amazing song, in fact more people need to hear California, great album.
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Recent Activity
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rowena34, stabbygail, schwarzkoppf and 14 other people added American Music Club to their libraries. 12 hours ago
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rrriot tagged American Music Club with ‘this is to remind you’. last week
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Angelaatlastfm, jnu7282, combustionkid57 and 8 other people added American Music Club to their libraries. last week
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konfabulacja tagged American Music Club with ‘best background for cigarettes’. 17 days ago
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indiantadpole added American Music Club to indiantadpole’s library. 17 days ago
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Mendigo01 tagged American Music Club with singer-songwriter and alt-country. 20 days ago
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Easy_chord, Loud-Quiet-Loud, lynnmichele and 9 other people added American Music Club to their libraries. 20 days ago
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blueberry_cloud tagged American Music Club with alt-country and sadcore. last month
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psychedahlias, Photophobia and Fancy_A_Cuppa added American Music Club to their libraries. last month
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JarvisAndKate tagged American Music Club with alt-country. last month
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