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

ALBANY – Releasing The White Album and The Black Album, Elephant Back, have successfully crafted two records that are extremely strong when paired together, or when standing alone. What’s even more impressive, is how both of these records sound nothing like the other. While The White Album is steeped in singer-songwriter vibes, The Black Album is a rocker. Celebrating different eras of rock ranging from the 1960’s to today, there’re a lot of sounds crammed into such a short album.

Starting off the record with a tune that harkens back to the era of surf-rock, the production choices – especially in terms of mixing – on the opening track, “A Lot To Do,” makes the somewhat sparse instrumentation seem massive. It’s a great way to start the record off; the harmonies are a nice touch. The somewhat persistent kick drum pattern allows first time listeners to latch onto the groove fairly quickly. That being said, for this particular listener, it would’ve been nice to hear a bit more variation in this song.

Asked and answered, “Bad Love,” has a solid rock structure about it that varies quite nicely. Pairing the drum pattern so tightly with the guitar part is an excellent arrangement choice for this track. Much more visceral than the previous song, Elephant Back really kicks it up a notch – or twelve – with this tune. The guitar work on “Bad Love” walks right up to the line of being flashy, but never crosses over the threshold into self-indulgence.

Continuing with a harder edge, “Light As A Feather,” gives off massive garage-rock vibes, not only with instrumentation choices, but the production’s timbre, as well. It’s dirty. It’s filthy. It’s awesome. Swapping between palm-muted guitars and opened up chords at just the right time, it sounds like something straight out of the early-aughts from bands such as The White Stripes and Black Keys.

Shifting eras again, listeners will find themselves immersed in the sounds of late 90’s alt-rock with “Serendipit.” The almost phase-like quality of the vocals, panning back and forth between the left and right ear, along with the reverb-soaked overdriven guitars, sound so good in this song. More delicate and much less in-your-face than the two previous tracks, “Serendipity” makes for a great driving song on a long stretch of road.

A deceptively laidback intro breaks way to quite the rollicking penultimate tune in “See Me.” That being said, once the band gets cooking, they don’t let up! A bit jangly in its sound when compared to other tracks on the album, the song serves as a nice tonal change of pace. Though I would’ve liked to hear the bass stick out a bit more on this record – I’m a sucker for the low-end, after all – on the closing track, “Human,” the bass is pretty prominent. More of the same lush, rock tones, the repetitive nature of this track allows the album to conclude with a solid, memorable ending, both vocally and instrumentally.

Putting out two records that sound nothing alike at the same time is almost unheard of, but Elephant Back has done so, and done it with aplomb. With a name to match the seemingly polar-opposite nature of the two albums, The Black Album is rife with visceral rock and roll that leaves the listener waiting to hear more from the band. Check it out for yourself here.