Album Review: Elephant Back’s “The White Album”

ALBANY – Not every band that starts out these days makes the ambitious leap to record a full album. Some bands, however, like Elephant Back, see that bar and raise it. Today, the band, comprised of wife-husband team, Sarah and Dave Snediker, are celebrating the release of their double album, The White Album, and The Black Album. Featuring more of a singer-songwriter edge, The White Album is filled from start to finish with really strong songwriting, arrangements, and production.

Violins and a chord progression start the album off to an easy start with, “Home.” Featuring a well-placed vocal track, the drums find their place in the mix quite nicely as the instrumentation continues to develop. The repetitious nature of the guitar part during the verses allows first-time listeners the ability to latch onto something familiar, even if to a subconscious event. The shouted chorus line during the latter half of the tune, “Anywhere is home with you,” really stands out to this author as quite a poignant line, whose vibe is matched with the instrumentation.

Sounding like something found easily in Lennon’s collection during his Double Fantasy era, the follow-up tune, “You & Me,” is powerful and well-crafted. The inclusion of the major-minor chord pattern in this tune has such a damned nostalgic way about that, especially when paired up with the song’s melody.

An acoustic number, “Let it Be,” track three, shifts the energy down a bit. Though similar to the previous tune, it’s astonishing how well these tunes are laid out in the record. A “walking” record in many regards, this track solidifies that vibe. Everything is mixed, and produced in such a pristine way, that there’s nothing that stands in the way of listeners popping the record on, and becoming fully immersed in the album’s lyrics; there’s a terrific storytelling nature to this collection of songs.

The melody to “My Love,” track four, initially explores a different part of Dave’s vocal register. Though there are some nice harmonies on this track, in the eyes of this author, it is not one of the strongest on the record. Despite this dip, the album soon kicks back up. More of a rocker, “W.T.F.I.C.,” features Sarah leading in the vocal department. Utilizing a high-pass filter of some sort, the vocals are mixed and engineered in such a way that sounds unique, in comparison to the rest of the record, and stands out nicely. Highlighting a punchy and grooving drum part – especially the kick drum – the tune moves forward effortlessly. It isn’t until we approach the end of the song that the meaning behind the acronym is humorously revealed.

The acoustic-focused closer, “Good Thing,” only further strengthens the highlights of this album that by this point are firmly established. One thing that stood out on this track occurred near its conclusion. The call-and-response nature of the final chorus is a great arrangement and production choice the band made. An unexpected track after the closer, “Move Me” is a nice little nugget of a tune. Featuring just one electric guitar and a laidback vibe, it is quite an expected and endearing way to end the record, especially when considering the lyrics in the tune.

Chock full of strong songwriting, The White Album, the first album of Elephant Back’s double record release, flows along quite nicely. Fans of the Beatles – especially John Lennon – will find something they can latch their teeth into with this record. With lush production, it moves in such a way that listeners will arrive at the end before they know it. Check it out for yourself here and be sure to check out the review of The Black Album when it comes out next week!