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Absent Elk - Caught In The Headlights | | Comments
on Absent Elk have been largely positive. Paul Lester of The Guardian
commented at the music "Soars majestically, in an indie kind of way."
and The Independent's Marcus O'Dair referred to "First rate
song-writing."
It can't be helped, one has no choice but to
think that they were listening to an entirely different Absent Elk than
the ones due to release "Caught in the Headlights" in October.
Sounding
like a cross between the Pidgeon Detectives and Coldplay (nobody wants
that) the album falls flat frequently, with brave stabs at dancy upbeat
songs (See Cannibals), which should work, but more often than not these
songs don't make the grade, like the opening of a packet of Skittles
and discovering that the packet is full of angry wasps and used needles.
Making
this ever further tragic are the presence of two great songs on the
album. My First Guitar leads with a great guitar line, reggae style
drums, and a fantastically slinky bass line. The vocals, whilst they
may be too high pitched for some, sound brilliant. Similarly with Queen
of Hearts, which opens brilliantly. The simplistic approach to the
verses is promoted to good upon hearing the small guitar fills between
vocals.
And then we have a Song like Emily. Nothing wrong with
the song, if you like bland mainstream indie, but surely there are
enough songs called Emily.
"See Emily Play" by Pink Floyd
"Emily" by Bowling for Soup
"Emily" by Elton John
"Emily" by Jewel
"Emily Harper" by Mark Wills
"Me And Emily" by Rachel Proctor
"Emily" by Nine Days
"Emily" by From First to Last
SERIOUSLY.
No
more songs called Emily, please. Is there just this one girl going
round rock bands getting singers to fall in love with them?
Try
Gladys. Or Gertrude. Or Ermintrude. I doubt anybody's written a song
about Ermintrude, unless they watch The Magic Roundabout so much it's
creepy.
Tom Flanagan
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