The band went through many personnel changes before arriving at a consistent line up of Eitzel on vocals, guitar and songwriting, guitarist Vudi (Mark Pankler), bassist/mandolinist Danny Pearson and drummer Matt Norelli, with founder member Johnson moving to keyboards.

[6] This line-up would change over the next several years (with drummers in particular coming and going, notably Tim Mooney), but Eitzel always remained the core of the band in terms of its vocals, lyrics and thematic focus, with Vudi and Pearson accompanying him on guitar and bass.

Eitzel's performance style remained spontaneous, emotional, unguardedly volatile and sometimes destructive, with the other musicians concentrating on providing a stable musical framework for his songs.

The band's next LP, 1989's United Kingdom, was a UK-only release comprising new material, some of which was recorded live at the Hotel Utah in San Francisco.

Like Engine, it was an eclectic record which juggled alt.rock, rockabilly, noise-rock and grunge in addition to the country and folk of the California and United Kingdom period.

[4] This level of critical acclaim attracted the attention of several major labels, with American Music Club eventually signing with Reprise in the US and Virgin throughout the rest of the world.

[6][7] In 1994, AMC followed up Mercury with San Francisco, which balanced confessional tunes like "Fearless" and "The Thorn in My Side Is Gone" alongside more accessible offerings such as "Wish the World Away".

Despite the splits and tensions, the various members of American Music Club had always stayed in touch and maintained affection (Lisa Davis described their sometimes combative relationships with each other as being like "brothers").

The band reunited in 2003 with Eitzel initially joined by Pearson and Mooney, and later by Vudi and new keyboard player Marc Capelle, to record a new album, Love Songs for Patriots (released in 2004).

[7][10][11] This was described by AllMusic reviewer Mark Deming as "a stronger and more coherent effort than the group's last set, 1994's San Francisco, and while it's too early to tell if this is a new start or a last hurrah for AMC, it at least shows that their formula still yields potent results.

[14] Following the final split of American Music Club, Eitzel resumed his solo career, while Vudi would play with Jenifer McKitrick and Pocket Life.