Eels Show Power of Pop to Overcome Defeat

The self-evaluations outlined in the songs of Eels are so scathing that it would take a miracle to lift this music from the dead end of utter despair. This must be a pretty miraculous band, then. On its debut album “Beautiful Freak” (due out next week), the Los Angeles trio challenges a lifetime of defeat and rejection with the power of transcendent pop music.

They did the same thing at the Viper Room on Monday, with slightly different ammunition. They did pull out a French horn for the title song, but in place of the shimmering, unpredictable pop touches, oddball instrumentation and atmospheric moodiness of the album, Eels showcased an aggressive musical dynamism, relying on the thrills of charged ensemble playing.

With his dark beard, dark-rimmed specs and T-shirt emblazoned “I’m going to be a grandpa,” Eels leader E (a transplanted Virginian who released two critically admired albums under that name a few years ago) looked like the ultimate grad-student nerd. But his hoarse, scratchy voice carried the weight of his words, most of which reflect “the awful sting that comes from living in a world that’s so damn mean.”

E’s considerable melodic sense endows his reflections with a redeeming tenderness, never more touchingly than in the beatnik cabaret of “Susan’s House,” where spoken verses over hip-hop shuffle alternate with an achingly beautiful piano bridge--a refuge from the madness, death and indignity he encounters on a stroll through the neighborhood.

The resiliency E and Eels summon is inspiring in this context. Finally, his genuine anguish looks like a fair price to pay for his refusal to settle for easy cynicism.