Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

Cage the Elephant

Cage The Elephant

Label: Relentless Release Date: 23/06/2008

38670
charlesubaghs by Charles Ubaghs June 18th, 2008

Why does it always seem like the people who claim they’re here to save rock ‘n’ roll are often the ones least capable of doing it? We’ve time and time again seen shaggy haired rockers attempting to recapture some mythical spirit of rock that, based on the music they actually produce, ends up sounding like a tenth generation sub-standard Faces; their only claim to ‘authenticity’ being a filthy pair of jeans and a carefully displayed bottle of Jack Daniel’s.

With a back-story that includes a Christian upbringing in rural Kentucky, a pair of brothers among their members and early reports describing Axl Rose-style stage antics as they sing songs about ‘Free Love’, you’d be forgiven for thinking of *Cage the Elephant *as possible torchbearers for back to basics rock ‘n’ roll… or at the very least Kings of Leon 2.0.

Yet instead of the Followill brothers’ respectable Lynyrd Skynyrd crashing head-first into a pile of Tom Verlaine records sound, what we get on Cage the Elephant’s self-titled debut is a collection of radio-friendly alt-rock tunes with a southern twist and worrying dependency on Anthony Kiedis’ rap-rock-style vocals.

So while new single _‘Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked’ _may read like the title for some rollicking slice of southern-rock hellfire, the actual result is something more akin to a mutant hybrid of Kid Rock and the chart fodder of McFly. It’s a fatal flaw that rears itself again and again as a bastardised version of blue-collar Americana is force-fed a mass-produced strain of bland modern rock throughout all eleven tracks.

Which means that far from heralding another return to good old fashioned rock ‘n’roll as it was meant to be – full of spit, shine and rebel swagger – all Cage the Elephant have accomplished is a batch of songs that are just another symptom of the rock disease certain corners of the media claim these boys are here to cure.

  • 3
    Charles Ubaghs's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing


  • Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alternative must sees


  • A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash



Left-arrow

Beth Rowley

Little Dreamer

Mobback
37117
38687

Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143
  • news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141

    news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139
  • Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138

    Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137
  • Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136

    Festival Review


    Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019

  • 106135
  • Festival Review


    25 years of SPOT Festival: DiS Picks Its Best 11

  • 106134
MORE


    Interview


    Interview: Bjork talks piracy, punk, Lady Gaga ...

  • 79700
  • review


    Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence

  • 95999

    Interview


    With Nile and I: DiS meets Nile Rodgers

  • 98023
  • review


    Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions

  • 55003

    news


    The DiS Community's... 101 Favourite Albums

  • 85886
  • feature


    Panic Prevention: At the drink with Jamie T

  • 14183

    Staff-generated


    Reviewed: Shut Up And Play the Hits a documenta...

  • 83336
  • feature


    New Emo Goth Danger? My Chemical Romance confro...

  • 89578
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2023 DROWNED IN SOUND