Everclear has always been one of those bands that is
tragically better than their ill-conceived ’90s contemporaries, but that
doesn’t necessarily mean they should be associated with greatness. Frontman Art
Alexis has a way of pumping out catchy tunes that show he isn’t afraid to
remember grunge’s heyday, and Everclear has recorded quite a few hits because
of it. And yet, between “I Will Buy You a New Life” (1997) and
“Learning How to Smile” (2000), they recorded many songs that were too
OK to either criticize or admire. Everclear’s new collection of covers, The
Vegas Years, is dominated — somewhat entertainingly — by just such songs.

The yuppie-friendly rockers aren’t new to covers, scoring
popularity with their renditions of Thin Lizzy’s enthusiastic “The Boys
are Back in Town” and Van Morrison’s romance anthem “Brown Eyed
Girl.” On The Vegas Years, an almost absurd number of pop-culture staples
are reinterpreted, ranging in style from the Americana of Tom Petty to the
surprising “This Land is Your Land.”

Maybe the idea of Everclear covering an arsenal of radio
singles and cultural icons sounds intriguing, but the band takes a
disappointingly homogenous approach to just about every track on the disc. Most
are major-scale, four-by-four constructions that require some dynamic changes
to be exciting when put together as a collection. However, Alexis fails to do
so, instead belting out every number in his quintessential style over fervent
pop-rock backing.

It’s not as if anybody listening to an Everclear covers record
is going to be overly critical anyway, but when the first stuttering guitar
riffs of “American Girl” come out of those speakers, listeners are
going to expect either the hit they’ve come to love or something drastically
different. Sadly, the effect is neither, and that middle-ground approach is a
pattern repeated with nearly every song.

Thankfully, the source material for these songs is just
too good to result in covers that are anything less than bearable. Both
“Boys” and “Brown Eyed Girl” make predictably likable
appearances, and the latter includes some audience participation that
effectively plays off Everclear’s energetic fan base. Although the ’80s staple
“867-5309 (Jenny)” may be a bit too saccharine for many, it still
plays jovially as a sing-along live recording.

Other oddball additions also shine. Roy Acuff’s
“Night Train to Memphis” is one of the few tracks on The Vegas Years
that feels reinvented, and the Everclear versions of the “Speed
Racer” and “Land of the Lost” themes are so smile-inducing they
make the latter half of the album worthwhile all on its own.

Everclear may not prove their chops on this album, but
they do challenge anyone who thinks mediocrity can’t be listenable. Hearing
songs by Tom Petty, The Go-Gos, Neil Young and Hall & Oats on the same disc
is always welcome, and Everclear’s distinctive pop-rock sound is a nice way to
tie all those artists together. Although these covers may not be the kind of
stunning reinventions Jeff Buckley and Gary Jules created, they do make for the
best kind of karaoke album: familiar, fun and colloquial.

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2 1/2 ?stars out of 5