Mark Eitzel has found a way for himself along the thorny path of

solo stardom by writing elegant, honest and sparse songs. 1996's

West, an

album of uncommon beauty and depth, is clear testimony to that

fact.

Eitzel himself is, of course, no stranger to noteworthy music. For 12

years and

seven albums with the now defunct American Music Club, he and

his former bandmates endured perpetual commercial failure that

was made even more difficult in some ways by their critical

successes. Their music -- dark, revealing and phenomenally sad --

never connected with a mass audience.

But with Caught In A Trap And I Can't Back Out Because I Love

You Too Much,

Baby, Eitzel, who remains true to form by laying out precise

emotional

zingers, nonetheless threatens to annoy his small but faithful

audience by ... well,

whining to them.

True, Eitzel

runs musical circles around those with lesser gifts. But Caught

In A Trap

flows in far too constricted a fashion to be considered remarkable

or even very enjoyable.

To compound the letdown, Eitzel brings together a solid and

worthy backing

band -- Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley on drums, James McNew of

indie blockbusters Yo La Tengo on bass and, on guitar, Kid Congo

Powers of Cramps and

Bad Seeds fame. Unfortunately, after having gone to the trouble of

assembling such a great band, Eitzel proceeds not to make use of

the talented musicians. Instead he chooses to treat them as just so

many recording-wallflowers. Go figure.

With talent and past recording experience like his it's a great

shame that, after 11 songs of pain, complaint, razor-sharp

observation and

speculation, one walks away feeling emotionally cramped and

disappointed.

Caught In A Trap is not, however, a complete waste of time.

Take

any line from any song on this album and it'll make your feeble

attempts at

songwriting look, well, feeble.

Maybe that's a good enough reason to expect better from a guy

like Eitzel. Oh and by the way, on

the off chance you run into him, do him a favor -- offer him a

buddy hug (if you're with friends, engage in a heartwarming group

hug). In the

meantime, don't expect heroic deeds here. Ultimately, you're the

one who'll

feel caught in a trap.