The incomparable American Music Club at the Iron Horse TONIGHT with The Figments

The first time I saw Mark Eitzel and his band American Music Club was 1988 at the Hotel Utah, a popular dive bar in San Francisco. I didn't know who I was watching, but the lead singer (Mark) was slugging from a bottle of Jack, singing and screaming with such emotion that people backed away for fear of injury, physical and emotional! He stormed off and onstage with self-abusive comments while the band played beautiful country tinged rock, poker-faced and at ease, as if they'd seen it all before. Sometimes you have to let a screaming baby cry. You can't overattend to them because they'll just use it to manipulate you later in life. 2o years later, and following an Eitzel solo gig at the Horse last year, the reunited American Music Club has released a new album and to the delight of old fans like me, are coming to Northampton. Mark has matured into a stunning songwriter with great wit and insight, and the band is better than ever at what they do with his creations. Hey, I've always hated their name. It was so bad in fact that no one really bothered to give them a listen suspecting their musical ability probably wasn't much better than their band naming talents. Then word started to get out, and they were the "it" band for a few years with some heartwrenching and epic albums to prove it but an AMC show has the potential to blow you away people, and I'm hoping you don't pass up a chance to see a band who, at one time, inadvertently brought a little Joy Division and Jim Morrison into the Americana music scene. Locals The Figments are a perfect fit for this show of low-brow sophistication...or something like that. Eitzel also scores major points for "discovering" and championing Mark Kozelek (Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon) early on. And I won't bother you talking about the Toiling Midgets here. -Jim Neill