Cage the Elephant
Hey look, I'm a cracked out G.
Love. Or at least that's how this wad-blowing first track,
"In One Ear," starts of this album. Then on the second track
I've become some kind of weak version of those garage-rockin'
Swedes, The Hives (remember them?)
And then on the third track I'm Everlast/Whitey
Ford (you definitely don't remember him.) While it totally sucks
for any album peaking on track 1, even suckier is ending up
sounding like an imitation of bands that nobody really felt
all that great about to begin with. By the fourth track, 'Tiny
Little Robots,' things get a bit embarrassing. Jesus, track
six, 'Back Against the Wall,' sounds like a Chili
Peppers reject. Somewhere some douche in Oakleys and a No
Fear tattoo thinks this is the pinnacle of rock and roll. Me?
I can't go on. |
Thank You Happy Birthday
I really thought I'd dislike this album.
I thought I had heard stuff off their last album and found it
to be like a weird G
Love rip-off. That didn't bode well. Turns out these guys
are more Pixies fans than anything
else, with some of the tunes almost sounding like direct rips
with a twist. Of course I'm terrible at spotting influences
and the like, but the lead singer's penchant for singing in
a lovely tone and then frying his vocal chords and talk/singing
in the next refrain with yelps and whatnot, mixed with some
of his phrasing and the music's patterns and the background
vocals just undeniably conjure Pixies. Even the song "2024"
sounds just like any b-side from a
Frank Black/Black Francis
solo album. And then there's the first single, "Shake Me Down,"
that has Modest Mouse all over
it. That's honestly the one that intrigued me enough to check
this album out, mostly because I was surprised it was them and
also because I found it stuck in my head a couple hours later.
It's not all sunshine and roses on this album by any menas as
there is a heavy dose of copycatting going on here, but I was
honestly surprised by its relative listenability. After all,
who the hell could have put up with another whole album full
of "Cold Beverage?" |
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