Cage the ElephantCage the Elephant
2009 DSF/Jive Records
# of spins (out of 5):
Wow. It’s not often that I hear a band that gets me genuinely excited about their future. And even less often do I hear an entire album that is filled to the brim with flawless rock n’ roll. And even rarer than that, is when said band with said CD hails from my home state of Kentucky.
Cage the Elephant springs from rural Bowling Green…home of Western Kentucky University and the Corvette Plant and a big hill in the center of town. That’s about it, folks. However, it seems boredom is perfect foundation for unique, throbbing rock n’ roll, with an honest to God pulse. The influences here are a circus – spanning the Allman Brothers, to G-Love, to Hank Jr., to Red Hot Chili Peppers, to James Brown (see the song “James Brown”) – and it all works flawlessly.
The band has already caught on in Europe, but has yet to get a foothold here in the states. With their single “No Rest for the Wicked” rapidly climbing on iTunes and getting added to radio station rotations all over the country, it’s only a matter before this band is EVERYWHERE. Matt Schulz’s voice has chameleon-like quality, from hard rock screams, to country wails, to a hip-hop bounce – it can pretty much do anything he wills it to do.
The only drawback is that songs like “In One Ear” and “Lotus” are so pain-stakingly good, that they almost eclipse the songs around them, which are equally as brilliant in their own right. The only reason I didn’t give this an A+ is because “No Rest for the Wicked” is a great song, but I don’t like it as a lead single for the album…it is in no way representative of exactly how much this band rocks. Buy this album. Experience this album. Love this album.
Cage the Elephant springs from rural Bowling Green…home of Western Kentucky University and the Corvette Plant and a big hill in the center of town. That’s about it, folks. However, it seems boredom is perfect foundation for unique, throbbing rock n’ roll, with an honest to God pulse. The influences here are a circus – spanning the Allman Brothers, to G-Love, to Hank Jr., to Red Hot Chili Peppers, to James Brown (see the song “James Brown”) – and it all works flawlessly.
The band has already caught on in Europe, but has yet to get a foothold here in the states. With their single “No Rest for the Wicked” rapidly climbing on iTunes and getting added to radio station rotations all over the country, it’s only a matter before this band is EVERYWHERE. Matt Schulz’s voice has chameleon-like quality, from hard rock screams, to country wails, to a hip-hop bounce – it can pretty much do anything he wills it to do.
The only drawback is that songs like “In One Ear” and “Lotus” are so pain-stakingly good, that they almost eclipse the songs around them, which are equally as brilliant in their own right. The only reason I didn’t give this an A+ is because “No Rest for the Wicked” is a great song, but I don’t like it as a lead single for the album…it is in no way representative of exactly how much this band rocks. Buy this album. Experience this album. Love this album.
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1 comment:
I completely agree about the first single. Like the new U2 album, there are so many more tracks that really make this a stellar outting for CTE. I can't wait to see what they do next.
As for the popularity here in the U.S. ... I really hope they break, but unfortunately I've seen too many fantastic bands out there that hit hard in England but never here... i.e. Arctic Monkeys or Kaiser Chiefs (at least not in the Midwest).
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