One sunny afternoon just north of Nashville, TN, the grit of southern rock fell in love with the energy of funk and the very essence of rock n’ roll. Their love grew and multiplied and a short time later, out of Bowling Green, Kentucky, was born Cage The Elephant.
Brothers Matt and Brad Schultz joined up with a high school friend Jared Champion, and family friend Danielle Tichenor. A few months later Lincoln Parish, an eager young musician, e-mailed the group several times asking to join. Subsequent jam sessions proved successful and Parish joined the group at the ripe old age of fifteen. Cage The Elephant began to conquer the local tour circuit, and after word spread of their high-energy, high-chaos live shows, they signed with Relentless Records. Since then, they’ve been working hard to release their debut album “Cage The Elephant” which dropped in the US June 23, 2008
Since 2007 Cage The Elephant has been touring and living in the UK where their first single, “In One Ear” debuted at number 26 on the Top 40 charts, and their intense live shows have earned them opening spots on tour with Kings of Leon and Queens of The Stone Age.
Now, that their self-titled LP has finally been released in the States, Cage is poised to take control of the American rock scene. The band’s organic melodies channel the likes of The Chili Peppers and outspoken lyrics mock their critics with a raw poignancy reminiscent of Dylan himself. On the opening track “In One Ear” the band claims, “They say that we ain’t got the style/we ain’t got the class/we ain’t got the tunes that’s gonna’ put us on the map” but subsequent tracks like “James Brown” and “Lotus” dispel any such rumors.
BBC reviewed the new record saying, “’In One Ear’ is a definite two fingers up at the music industry (”I’m an antisocial anarchist who sounds like so and so… Rock ‘n roll is dead I should have stayed at school”).” The story behind the lyric is, no doubt, one of the many things that draw fans to Cage’s live shows and helps to make the track so phenomenal.
Cage The Elephant continues the record with tracks like the fan-favorite “Tiny Little Robots” which channels “the kind of guitar playing that The Hives would appreciate,” (Contactmusic.com)and finishes everything off with the distinct, “Soil To The Sun,” a track that proves Cage is in it to win it with their haphazard enthusiastic rock.
While DrownedInSound.com called Cage The Elephant, “Kings of Leon 2.0.” nothing could be farther from the truth. While it’s true Cage shares geographical origins with Kings, the overall intensity and passion found in Cage songs such as “Back Stabbin’ Betty” and “Back Against The Wall” put the two bands in completely different categories; Cage is pure rock, while Kings have a distinct indie-edge.
Opinions aside, Cage The Elephant have made it clear that they are here to rock, and with their debut record, courtesy of Relentless, they’re not about to let anyone forget the fact. Online music source, Mirror.Co.UK described Cage’s magic perfectly saying, “[Cage] moves in demented unison, hits you with the force of a hurricane and doesn’t forget to drop killer riffs and top tunes.” Their energy smacks the listener in the face from the very first beat and keeps him coming back for more track after track.
Check out Cage The Elephant on iTunes, or sample some tunes for free on the band’s MySpace here.
