I love debuts. Whether artists become lions in the industry or puffs of smoke, whether they leave their original fans for the promise of mainstream glitz, they always leave behind the energetic roots of their birth, the album that took a young lifetime of sweat, passion, and luck just to get made. Cage The Elephant\u2019s self-titled starter is a prime example of this. The group\u2019s early success seems to chart a course for potential stardom, and whatever heights they reach will be built on the foundation of this lively record full of hooks.<\/p>\n
While Cage The Elephant followed an unlikely path to the charts by relocating from Kentucky to London, their songwriting follows the proven method of combining memorable choruses and exciting instrumentals with a frontman who delivers with style and swagger. Cage The Elephant<\/i> channels equal parts retro rock and Red Hot Chili Peppers as vocalist Matthew Shultz spits like Anthony Kiedis and shakes like Craig Nicholls of the Vines.\u00a0 The band\u2019s rhythm section supports him with rock and roll that is full of funky, blues-inspired riffs. After recently witnessed this combination at Milwaukee\u2019s Summerfest, I can verify that the band lives up to this rollicking disc by holding nothing back on stage. <\/p>\n
On a record that is enjoyable from start to finish, several songs still stick out.\u00a0 \u201cIn One Ear\u201d slams all the naysayers and trash-talkers with the carefree attitude expressed in its catchy chorus. \u201cAin\u2019t No Rest For The Wicked\u201d received the most radio play, and its gritty survivalist themes work well with the sparse slide guitar. The song should be a strong candidate to be the theme song for the New Normal, as its characters scrape desperately to make a living, and it is one of several tracks that reveal this band to be capable storytellers who appeal to our emotions with the exploits of actual people instead of with vague feelings and observations. \u201cTiny Little Robots\u201d rails against conformism with a syncopated, half-time chorus and was a great song to hear live. \u201cBack Against the Wall\u201d uses both the pre-chorus and the refrain to perfection.<\/p>\n
With only a couple of tracks that are merely average, Cage The Elephant<\/i> marks the start of a bright future for this group. It draws on a wide range of influences yet has a cohesive sound that is both approachable and unique. It leaves no doubt that they will continue to make noise in the industry. There are songs to write and there is a living to be made.\u00a0 After all, as they say, there \u201cAin\u2019t no rest for the wicked \/ Money don\u2019t grow on trees \/ I\u2019ve got bills to pay \/ I\u2019ve got mouths to feed \/ Ain\u2019t nothing in this world for free.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":30382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8601],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-42042","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-cage-the-elephant","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42042"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}