The fifth album from quirky alt-rock band the Eels [ tickets ], titled "Souljacker, will hit U.S. shelves in March. The CD has been available in Europe since September.

The current incarnation of the band--vocalist-guitarist Mark Oliver Everett (best known as E), drummer Jonathan Norton (aka Butch) guitarist Joe Gore and multi-instrumentalist John Parish--recorded the album in early 2001 in E�s basement studio, OneHitsville, USA, and Parish�s Honorsound studio in Bristol, England.

"Most of this record was made in my basement," Everett began, then interrupted himself. "Well, some of it was done in John Parish's basement, but most of it was done in my basement. The [initial] mood was really jovial and we were getting a lot of work done, and then John Parish showed up and it just kind of turned into this alcoholic fog. We weren�t drinkers or anything, and then he showed up and every night it was like, [in English accent] 'I think it�s time for a beer.' And then, next thing you know, we're all--well, you know, we're in rehab now, trying to get over it."

Everett met Parish, with whom he co-produced the new album, on the popular English television show "Top of the Pops."

Everett�s dry and clever sense of humor belies the personal hurdles he�s had to overcome. In the mid-90s, after the death of his father, his sister Elizabeth committed suicide. Then, at the same time that the band broke through with its 1996 album "Beautiful Freak"--which features the hit "Novocaine for the Soul"--his mother was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

Rather than shrink from the personal tragedies, Everett released the critically acclaimed "Electro-shock Blues" in 1998.

When asked if he has any particular favorite songs on the album, he painstakingly--pausing several times for thought--recites the album's exact track listing.

"['Souljacker'] came together very quickly," he said. "It was just fun, and we were excited, just having a good time. We made a few other records along the way, that's how easy it was. We had some free time on our hands."

While previous album covers featured various animated works, Everett actually shows his face on "Souljacker."

"This is the first album cover, the first Eels album cover, that I'm actually on," he said. "And it's also, coincidentally, my first nude photo shoot. We expect that it's going to be a big seller. We finally realized, you know, it's time to cash in on it. I look at, like, Britney Spears ... it's all about being sexy. And I realized it's time for me to just--I mean, I don't care anymore about artistic integrity and that kind of s---. I've got it. Flaunt it."

And what he�s flaunting these days is a scraggly beard, which coupled with a sweatshirt hood gives him a disturbing resemblance to the Unabomber. German director Wim Wenders ("Buena Vista Social Club," "A Trick of the Light") directed the video for the track "Souljacker-part 1," and took advantage of the look.

"Yeah, it gives [Wenders] a lot to work with," Everett said with a laugh. "The great thing about [the look] is, it�s like automatic video. I don�t have to anything, the beard is just there. Don�t need much more.

"[The video is Wenders'] best work, I think. This is like all of his movies combined into three minutes. It�s like an explosion of greatness."