Cage The Elephant
Early in 2009 on WEBN out of Dayton, they ran one of those dig it or ditch it deals… You know.. they play a new song from some new band and people call up and let them know whether they like the song or hate it. Well on this night they played Cage the Elephant and I was Hooked! They remind me of the Violent Fems for some reason.. They have this Rock / Punk vibe that I’m lovin!
Early in 2009 on WEBN out of Dayton, they ran one of those dig it or ditch it deals… Y0u know.. they play a new song from some new band and people call up and let them know whether they like the song or hate it. Well on this night they played Cage the Elephant and I was Hooked! They remind me of the Violent Fems for some reason.. They have this Rock / Punk vibe that I’m lovin! So have a listen above and check out the reviews below from Sputnik & Rolling Stone … I may not agree … or even understand their reviews ( LOL! ) but I want to give you guys as much info as possible.
If your interested in picking up this CD or individual .mp3’s the best deal I have found has been through Amazon >>
Here are a couple of Cage the Elephant videos for ya!
Cage the Elephant Review From Sputnik:
Cage The Elephant is a multifaceted band. They ironically don an ill-suited moniker; Cage The Elephants they may, but their music refuses to be caged by genre or label. It is not so much that Cage falls into multiple genres, but rather, Cage so seamlessly combines blues, funk, and punk stylings that they transcend genre itself; there is no way to describe Cage The Elephant’s music without referring to Cage The Elephant itself, and in this we find a band that is truly deital. There is no “blues rock;” there is only Cage The Elephant. “Funk Punk?” No, friend, that’s the visceral joy that is Cage The Elephant. Truly, never before has a band so exuded the sweet juices of so many different musical styles while managing to retain its own distinct flavour.
The opener, “In One Ear,” is primal and furious. Vocalist Matt Shultz, with aggression no doubt fueled by centuries of Jewish oppression, angrily decries the ones who stood as obstacles in his path to musical expression. “It goes In One Ear/And right out the other/People talkin’ ***/They can kiss the back of my hand” he says with generation x defiance reminiscent of Kurt Cobain. In fact, Shultz, practically channeling the Godlike Cobain’s spirit itself, proclaims a message that is beautiful in its convolution; he doesn’t set up an existential target for his hatred. No, he just hates, from the record industry, to the social commentators, and finally the very “crowd” he’s singing for. The “stupid ***” that goes in one of Shultz’s ears and out the other may be white noise, but this music certainly isn’t. It’s a sonic, masochistic assault; it masticates the ears while paradoxically pleasuring them.
The opener is a perfect overture to a grand symphony of faux political self abrasion; the rest of the album follows suit beautifully (and brutally). From the caustic lyrics of “James Brown,” which paints a picture of the legion of indie generics, to the harsh reality of “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked,” which vividly paints the musician’s Mona Lisa picture of the hypocrisy of society, Cage The Elephant completes what it sets out to do brilliantly. It’s all but planned; it’s not a carefully designed political commentary. It’s not coherent, and it’s not academic. It’s complete recklessness, utter abandon; it’s a sincere expression of the aggression and perspective of the seeds of “generation x.”
Cage the Elephant Review From Rolling Stone:
Matt and Brad Shultz, the brothers behind this Kentucky-bred garage-punk quintet, grew up in cramped confines with a pious dad who didn’t like secular music — a good recipe for acting out later. Despite callow lyrics and what sounds like an unfortunate Nineties rock-rap influence — “In One Ear” sports G. Love and Special Sauce-style rhyming — Cage the Elephant make a fine mess on their debut: Singer Matt Shultz, a vocal dead ringer for the Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner, conjures white-blues forebears and barks with abandon on songs like “Free Love,” a skronk-y cut about a lady who “like(s) it rough” that rocks so enthusiastically you wonder if the band thinks it’s breaking new ground.
