Everclear is an alternative rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1992. The band is best known for their radio hits spanning more than a decade. For most of its existence, Everclear has consisted of Art Alexakis (vocals & guitar), Craig Montoya (bass guitar & vocals), and Greg Eklund (drums, percussion & vocals). Eklund replaced original drummer Scott Cuthbert in 1994. Montoya and Eklund departed the band in 2003, but Alexakis continued the band with Dave "Davey" French (guitar), Josh Crawley (keyboards), Sam Hudson (bass guitar), and Tommy Stewart (drums, percussion). However, all members except for Alexakis left the band in July 2009.
The current lineup, as of 2015, includes Alexakis (vocals/guitar), French (guitar), Crawley (keyboards), Freddy Herrera (bass), and Sean Winchester (drums).
Everclear are the Trope Namers for:
- Watch the World Die (via the chorus of "Santa Monica").
"Watch the tropes die":
- Abusive Parents: "Father of Mine" and "Wonderful". Doubles as Parental Abandonment.
- Calling the Old Man Out: In "Father of Mine", Alexakis chastises his father for not bothering to be a part of his life.
- Black Gal on White Guy Drama: "Heartspark Dollarsign" is about this.
- Darker and Edgier: 2015's "Black in the New Black" is probably their hardest album yet.
- Department of Redundancy Department: This lyric from "I Will Buy You A New Life":
- I will buy you a new car / Perfect, shiny and new.
- Distinct Double Album: Songs from an American Movie Vol. One: Learning How to Smile and Songs from an American Movie Vol. Two: Good Time for a Bad Attitude. Both were recorded at the same time, released months apart in 2000, and loosely themed around divorce: Vol. 1 being more pop-oriented and Vol. 2 having a heavier, more Alternative Rock / Post-Grunge sound.
- Driven to Suicide: "Santa Monica" is at least partially inspired by Alexakis's suicide attempt by throwing himself off of the Santa Monica Pier shortly after his then-girlfriend had done the same.
- Former Teen Rebel: "Volvo Driving Soccer Mom".
- I Am the Band: Art Alexakis is Everclear, or has been since 2003 anyway.
- Lyrical Dissonance: "Santa Monica", "Amphetamine", "Wonderful", "Father of Mine".
- Precision F-Strike: "Local God", "Strawberry", "White Men in Black Suits".
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: "Like a California King", if rumors hold true, is one of these aimed at Alexakis, written by himself. Or Gavin Rossdale. Nobody's really sure.
- Sampling: The melody for "AM Radio" is based around a sample of the chorus to "Mr. Big Shot" by Jean Knight.
- "Here We Go Again" gets its Title Drop from a sample of Public Enemy's "Bring The Noise".
- Step Up to the Microphone: Greg Eklund took lead vocals on "The Honeymoon Song" which he wrote the lyrics for.
- Stepford Smiler: The protagonist in "Wonderful," a child watching his parents divorce, sings about reassuring his friends that he's okay despite clearly not being.
- Vocal Evolution: Art's voice has gotten significantly deeper over the years, which has forced him to play his songs in a lower key during live performances. He also re-recorded Everclear's hits in this manner as well.
- When I Was Your Age...: "AM Radio", While it's mostly just Art getting nostalgic about the music he grew up with in the 70s, has some elements of this:The VCR and the DVDThere was none of that crap back in 1970We didn't know about a World Wide WebIt was a whole different gamePlayin' back when I was a kid
