So Much For The Afterglow

A combination of the same classic '70s rock that drives Foo Fighters or Queens Of The Stone Age and the melodic punk that inspired Nirvana, Everclear emerged on the pop culture landscape as part of the wave The Pixies and Husker Dü ushered in, a time when abrasive guitars aligned with naked emotional expression to beat back the scourge of vapidity. Everclear shifted the culture alongside bands like Smashing Pumpkins, The Toadies and Weezer; all diverse acts who shared a forceful authenticity. Frontman Art Alexakis has been candid about his past. His dad split when he was young. He and his mother lived in housing projects. He lost those closest to him to drugs and suicide and nearly lost himself in both, as well. This isn't the stuff of VH1's Behind The Music - this is the man's life pre-music, a life he's cracked open and explored in his art. It's there in "Heroin Girl," from the band's platinum commercial breakthrough, Sparkle and Fade (1995) and further hit singles "Santa Monica," and "Heartspark Dollar Sign." And it's there in the double platinum follow-up So Much for the Afterglow (1997) which added the pains of success to that internal fire and produced enduring radio staples like "I Will Buy You A New Life" and "Father of Mine," as ubiquitous today as they were back then.