As you might imagine, we get A LOT of records coming through here -- many of them great -- but I have listened to very few of them as many times upon acquisition as this one. I just can't stop spinning it. It's one of those rare finds -- the new purchase that actually achieves "heavy rotation" in my home.
The Elope trio hail from Sweden and are on the same label, Gravitation, that's brought us those lovely Bjorn Olsson instrumental albums. Elope are a contemporary band, but you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise. This record sure sounds like it was recorded circa 1973. The band has captured a long-ago, classic rock, heavily Beatles-influenced vibe, and written songs with the pop brilliance to match. They're retro but not self-consciously, calculatedly so. I mean, the album cover suggests modern indie rock along the lines of Death Cab For Cutie or Modest Mouse, way more than it does what the band actually sounds like. They are a wild combination of the Beatles, Neil Young (they cover his Bad Fog Of Loneliness), a little country Stones, a little Pink Floyd, maybe the Pretty Things circa their Parachute LP, and some Wings (or more Beatles).
More obscurely, I'd say a lot of this has the same magical effect on me as do the albums by early '70s Peruvian-Paul McCartney-worshippers, We All Together -- relaxed, super melodic, stick in your head songwriting. Another kinda obscure comparison would be to the quieter, acoustic side of heavy British '70s rockers Budgie (!), who were devoted Paul McCartney fans, I'm sure. Additionally, this album has a restrained-but-effective hard/psych rock side to it that could relate to the riffing of Budgie (a lot of critics apparently say Cream, but I don't hear that as much). Like the guy from Budgie doing
their more sensitive songs, the intimate, gentle vocals here have an
air of wistful melancholy that I always find hard to resist. Pretty, exquisitely crafted songs that are so very seventies, but also evoke the current folky indie-pop of, say, Belle and Sebastian.
I wasn't entirely surprised to find out that Elope includes some member(s) of the stoner rock band Lowrider. Indeed, Elope had a release (a split with a band called Backbiter) on the defunct stoner rock label Man's Ruin some time ago, previewing a couple of the songs included here. They've been called "possibly the mellowest stoner rock band ever", although they certainly are capable of rocking out, as on the track Pride Approaching. They do it rarely but they do it well. But unlike a lot of similar bands, whatever inclinations
they have towards psychedelic guitar jamming are balanced by the melodic/structural needs of the song at hand.
So good. I know I'll keep spinning this for some time to come. Quite possibly top ten 2004 material as far as I'm concerned!
- the staff of Aquarius Records
Review
text copyright © 2004 Aquarius Records.
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