Sunday, June 21, 2009
A+E, Music, Reviews

It's Elephant's

“GET ALONG”  (SELF-RELEASED)

The advent of the compact disc in the early ’80s brought unintended consequences to the music that ended up on them. The medium’s longer playing time made the old 20-minutes-per-side albums seem puny and dated. All too often, musicians decided that their statements needed to be longer, if for no other reason than to justify the CD’s nearly 80-minute potential. Goodbye, brevity; hello, bloat.
   
Thankfully, Atlanta’s It’s Elephant’s have no such pretentions. The quartet’s 2008 debut clocked in at a frisky 26 minutes, and its new sophomore release shaves off five more, barely hitting 21. Three of the nine tunes run less than 120 seconds, with nothing longer than four minutes, for a short, sharp ride, free of the padding common to indie-rock and especially hip-hop—all the better to absorb what’s here.
    
It’s Elephant’s traffics in alternately brash and soulful, only minimally blues-based music, led by the compellingly skewed vocals of Brent Jay. Lyrics to tunes such as “Black Cock Down” and “Meth Addicted to Whores” are as dense and obtuse as their titles imply. The songs feel like coiled springs, wound tight with terse rhythm guitar and, in the case of “Red Cock Wins,” the occasional surf influence. Hooky, repeated riffs provide a base for unexpected rhythmic twists.
   
There’s no room for guitar solos or extraneous instrumental passages. The compact tracks never feel edited or abbreviated to make a point. And, since the band gives away its music for free (at www.threefortysevenaugusta.com), nobody can complain about not getting their money’s worth. 2.5 STARS—Hal Horowitz