Kevin Bronson on January 30th, 2013

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It’s been a long time since “Novocaine for the Soul,” but Mark Oliver Everett is still meting out Ritalin for the brain. “Wonderful, Glorious” (out next week), the 10th album from Everett’s long-running musical persona Eels, reveals the veteran provocateur at his strongest – the album and its spacey, witty and percussive underdog tales rank with Eels’ early releases and “Hombre Lobo,” the first of the 2009-2010 album trilogy. The videos for “Peach Blossom” and “New Alphabet” (the latter after the jump) are episodic; in the second, Everett is terrorized by youthful aggressors. Tongue firmly in cheek, Everett explains: “Adult male abuse is a widespread but little acknowledged problem in today’s society. Many grown men are victims of children’s senseless bullying. I have made the brave choice to speak up as a victim of these pint-sized terrorists.” Our favorite part, though, is watching drummer Derek Brown in the “Peach Blossom” video – it’s the kind of song a drummer would almost pay you to play.

||| Live: Eels play Feb. 14 at the Observatory in Santa Ana and Feb. 15 at the Fonda Theatre.

||| Also: After the jump, watch the video for the sequel, “New Alphabet”: