Genre: Rock Year: 2004 Country: USA Official Site: Elefant Details: Tracks & Audio Label: Kemado
You know it's happened to you. A few too many drinks at the bar and the beer
goggles magically appear on your face, and you wake in bed next to
god-knows-who. What you didn't know is that this once happened to the The
Strokes and Interpol, and nine months later they had a bouncing baby
Elefant.
Elefant's debut disk Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid, a follow-up to their
February-released Gallery Girl EP, begins with the perkiest—and,
dare I question the album's title, sunniest—little pop song you'll ever
fall in love with. It sets the pace for the regressively romantic lyrics of
the album, all about pretty young hipsters finding love among the pointy
shoes, shaggy hair and skinny ties of the indie scene. Much of the action
takes place among people dancing.
Diego Garcia's vocals are the most clearly melodic here—you can easily
picture him seranading his subject in a heartfelt video, with a pretty young
girl twirling in the middle of a high-school gymnasium. "Get up and dance
around the room/my eyes are on you." Her fellow students can't comprehend
her beauty, but why should they care? She'll go home with the lead singer of
the band.
This poppy performance is repeated in the following song, bringing to mind
the sticky-sweet confections of early '90s bands like Material Issue and The
La's. But as this short record progresses, that ubiquitous NY sound sweeps
in. The love affair went awry and it's time to get serious. The dancey
staccato guitars kick in, Garcia's voice darkens and adopts a Brit lilt, and
the NYC and '80s influences are apparent and any ideas of shimmering pop are
mostly forgotten.
First few times I heard the single "Misfit," I thought The Strokes penned
the catchy tune. "Static on Channel 4," their ballad attempt, doesn't ever
lift off—its dreamy, synthetic space blips and acoustic guitars are
straight from the Bowie song book, but it's a lifeless tune. The
Interpol-on-uppers song "Bokkie" swims on light backing vocals and Garcia's
"ba-ba-ba-bops" that might've been recycled from a forgotten pop song, but
are a majestic addition here.
Most songs—early '90s pop-influenced or early '00s NYC indie—could easily
replace a Pretty in Pink soundtrack staple like OMD's "If You Leave"
or New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle." It's music for when you're left
alone on the dance floor and must find solace in the beats. It's catchy and
doesn't grow stale on repeat. But it's still disappointing that the happy
momentum of the first few tunes is neglected in the remainder of the
album.
Elefant Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid
