Those of you who are incredibly attentive to our youtube page may have noticed a little video I put up there in the beginning of January in which I said I was going to make a new video every day of the month, covering all the album releases that I felt were relevant (and in a style of music about which I feel qualified to discuss) of 2011.
I was being really, really dumb.
See, it turns out making video reviews (not Vlogs, which is the format with which we’ve been experimenting as a site currently as I teach myself how to actually use iMovie) is really, really hard. It didn’t work out well for me when I was just trying to do one video, so I realized pretty quickly that my plan wasn’t really going to work.
I’ve obviously given up on that project, but I’ve decided to morph it into something new, because there’s no reason I should let a good idea go completely to waste. So, I’ve decided to make this a written musical retrospective, in which I’ll attempt to cover fifty-two (52!) albums from 2011. Each article will cover a different album (some attempt at consistent chronology will be given). I’ll write a (hopefully) clever introduction, talk about each album’s pros and cons, and tell you whether the album is worth your money (and if not, what songs, if any, are). So, hobey ho!
Thank You, Happy Birthday by Cage the Elephant: Let me make something clear to you guys from the start. I go into all of these album reviews with a completely open mind; if anything, I’m mildly optimistic, hoping the album will impress me and I’ll be able to sit back, enjoy it, and tell you guys how wonderful music can be.
Unfortunately, the first album of my project sucks. And I don’t mean “this is a taste thing and this music just isn’t for me”, I mean I don’t see how this album is intended for any sort of human ears. Hell, the fact that it has a fan base boggles my mind. I literally cannot come up with an explanation as to how anyone on this planet likes this music.
I should back up. Cage the Elephant is an indie garage rock band that gained some mainstream cred when Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked hit it big in 2009, become the anthem for one of my favorite video games of that year (Borderlands), and gave many, including myself, hope that indie rock could actually maintain some relevancy in a pop world that has forgotten all about rock culture (I’m going to do a video on that when time permits, but for now, I’ll just point out that Lonely Boy by the Black Keys (I could argue how “rock” this song is, but that’s another another day) has held the #1 spot on the rock song charts since mid-December, and the highest it’s hit on the pop charts is 64). Of course, I didn’t actually listen to their album, and I don’t think most of the people who praised the band based on that one song did either. We just all collectively agreed that they were good and that was that.
Not that they gave any evidence to the contrary. Their next two singles, Back Against the Wall and In One Ear were actually more popular on the radio. Granted, I didn’t listen to the radio all that often back then, so my knowledge of them isn’t to the extent of Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked, but I’ve listened to them and both were very enjoyable, just as good as their previous hits. I had every reason to look forward to their second album, especially when Shake Me Down, possibly my favorite song of theirs so far in their young career, came out in November, and I bought completely into the hype machine.
Unfortunately, they seemed more than aware of this, as they spent little to no effort on most of the other songs in the album. The songs that were intended for singles, Shake Me Down, Around My Head and Aberdeen, had much more polish than the rest of the album as if to say, “Well, we know we’ll make most of our money in radio play and people buying single songs, so it’s okay if we just half-ass the rest of the album, right?”
And boy, did they. Without any of the polish and production values present in their greatest songs, the rest of the album sounds incredibly rough. I get that they are going for a “Garage band” style, but that doesn’t mean it should sound like they still belong in the garage!
Want proof? I have a really fun game for you. See how far you can get into “Sell Yourself” before your ears begin to bleed or your hand compulsively mutes the computer to save your sanity. I can’t tell you how hard I had to force myself to get through this song, and I listened to this whole album five times so that I really knew what I was talking about before I started.
No, I’m not bitter. Why do you ask?
Then there are the songs that just seem to mock you. Sabertooth Tiger seems to thankfully end it’s uncatchy chorus and repetitive lyrics about halfway through the song, but right before it cuts out for good, the sabertooth tiger just roars back so they could repeat the chorus AGAIN.
There are some head-scratching moments as well. Someone with intelligence far greater than mine has to explain the meaning behind 2024. What am I supposed to do with the line: “And now you’re walking through the door/ Just like 2024”? What the fuck does that mean? Am I just not smart enough for this? Given I’m doing pretty well at a good college, I’m just going to assume I’m too smart for this, and lyrics this asinine just go right over my head.
Then there’s Indy Kidz, in which Cage the Elephant gives the middle finger to…well, I’m not exactly sure, honestly. There’s this weird breakdown part at the beginning and end in which he keeps saying, “I want to be just like you,” in this demented mocking voice, and I’m not sure who should be insulted. Is he mocking fans that look up to him without creating their own music? Is he mocking those who listen to their music but only pretend to understand and appreciate it to fit in (not sure which social groups would be dependent on this knowledge, but whatever)? Is he mocking those who try to listen to this music but aren’t really fans, thus pre-empting people like me who say it sucks by insinuating that I just don’t get it? If it is the last one, way to alienate potential fans that aren’t used to your genre, morons! You’re not that popular yet, you can’t alienate potential fans before you have them.
Even some of their more polished songs aren’t very good. I get why Around My Head became a hit (there just aren’t that many romantic songs on alternative and rock radio, and things that are different tend to stand out and be successful in any radio culture), but it does absolutely nothing to stand out. And I can’t listen to Aberdeen without thinking of the lead singer screeching every time he says “Aberdeen”. It’s not cool, it’s ear-piercingly painful. Again, these aren’t bad songs like the others I’ve mentioned, but they are by no means good.
All that said (and boy, was there a lot to be said), this album isn’t a complete waste. Like I said, Shake Me Down is probably my favorite song they’ve ever recorded, as the music and lyrics merge together seamlessly to create an eerie but oddly uplifting song. I also actually really like the opening track, Always Something, a song in which the rough edges make sense because I can literally hear the deterioration of the singer’s mind as the song goes on, perfectly matching the tone of the piece.
If you haven’t been able to tell yet, I didn’t care for this album at all. It’s incredibly rough around the edges as they seem to be using their indie garage band label to get out of consistently making well-made songs. If I wanted to hear a bunch of people playing unrefined, unpolished noise, I could walk around the neighborhood and find ten garage bands that are capable of most of this album. I pay money for music that is above that, and very little of this album is.
(For those of you who like scores, I’m going to have to disappoint you, as I’m not giving any. I just don’t think numerical values can capture the essence of the music available here. That said, I think my stance is pretty clear through my writing, so it’d be unnecessary regardless)
Final verdict: Pass. Quickly. And Don’t Look Back!
Songs that are worth it: Shake Me Down is the only song I can recommend for a general audience, though if you like rougher punk/garage style music, you’d probably enjoy Always Something and Aberdeen as well.
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