There comes an album every now that captivates my senses. Sometimes it the dark and brooding sounds of The Pink Mountain tops. Sometimes it’s the melodious yet striking lyrics of Bill Callahan. Sometimes it’s the cacophony sounds of Broken Social Scene. But never in the past few years, when my music listening tastes changed from classic rock to alternative/indie, have I been so enthralled with a Rock group. And Cage The Elephant has done just that.
This album (thanks emusic.com!!) is an excellent album. Songs range from blues to rock and inspire foot tapping throughout the gamut of their music. I also like the lyrics of most of the songs and they don’t hold back on profanity which is a sign that they really don’t care about toeing the “morality”. I like that in a band.
Simple chords, killer hooks and catchy chorus define the album. LOVE the opener “In One Ear” whose message is basically a big F U to everyone who thinks a band is a just a clone (which sadly is true). The album continues the build up with the help of a strong rocking number 2 (James Brown). The third and sixth songs have been played to death by radio; “Ain’t no rest for the wicked” clearly the favourite amongst the DJs (it really is good but gets “old” very quickly) and “Back against the wall” which is an excellent representation of the album; rocking and melodious vocals. The weakest songs were “Tiny Little Robots”, “Lotus” and “Drones In The Valley”. These songs just sound as rushed and did not really grab me lyrically or musically. The hidden gem was “Judas”. What a fantastic bluesy rock and roll number!! Loved the buildup, loved the chorus and the energy with which the song was recorded was awesome!! “Back stabbin’ Betty” is laced with profanity so be careful about playing it in public but this is exactly why I like the song! The last two numbers are great way to close the album. “Soil to the sun” and “Free love”. Not very catchy but great listen anyway.
I do want to emphasise that there is no new sound break through in this album and there is a danger that CTE will be defined by this album until they do break new sound barriers. When I said that this group sounded like a clone because there are numerous groups out there with similar sound. What differs these guys is their free abandon when playing and their hooks. It would be interesting to see what they come up with next.
Desi In Toronto 