Everclear: Next Steps

If he didn't have such a love of power chords, Everclear songwriter Art Alexakis could've easily been a short-story writer, as he has several volumes' worth of tales about dreamers doing what they can to survive. The punkish "Electra Made Me Blind" sees Alexakis describing the frustrations of being trapped in a small town, while "Summerland" is a detailed, Springsteen-like character study of a frayed couple trying to make it work.