Album A Day: Cage the Elephant – Cage the Elephant

Artist: Cage the Elephant
Album: Cage the Elephant
Release Date: June 23, 2008 (UK); May 19, 2009 (USA)

As a writer, critic, and generally educated human being, I’ve tried to steer clear of the way in which the word ‘random’ has entered my generation’s vernacular. It’s overused, misused frequently and doesn’t really offer any meaningful description. But for this instance, I feel I need to make an exception.

Cage the Elephant’s debut album is a random record. Mixing the quasi rap lyrical stylings of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against the Machine, the acoustic folk rock of bands like OAR and the arrangements of early-00s nu-rock of The White Stripes or The Hives, Cage the Elephant feel more like a mishmash of influences that gel into an unpredictable hybrid band than they do an organic musical venture. If you read that part again and figure that I’m not a fan of the album, that’s not necessarily true. True, it’s an eclectic mix of sounds. Also true, the finished product doesn’t fit squarely in my musical wheelhouse. But yet, there’s the tiniest hint of method in the madness that urges listeners to dig deeper and follow them as they jump from one track to another. It’s a flawed debut, but it’s strength is in its versatility. For their next trick I hope they pick a direction and follow it.

Cage the Elephant – Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked [iTunes] (YSI)

==TJ==