Maybe it's because Elk is coming out of a scene which has numbered hardcore punk (A Day And A Deathwish, In These Walls, Ceremonial Snips, Attack In Black, Alexisonfire and more) and folkish country (Attack In Black again, City and Colour) as its greatest musical exports over the last decade, but there's no doubt that the band's indie/garage rock commands attention and will cause those who hear it to stop what they're doing and just listen. From the moment “Before The Sun” bounds to life featuring a drum sound reminiscent of the driving pitch that “Oh Pretty Woman” featured, listeners will feel their pulses start to race in order to find and match the song – it's so instantly gripping – and then the guitars pick up to get toes tapping and by the time the harmony vocals which back singer/guitarist Ben Pokol during the first chorus push their way into being, they'll be hooked. In that development, listeners get a perfect plan for rock n' roll greatness, pure and simple; it seems to ooze up through the floorboards from the foundations of the song and captures the consciousness of anyone with whom it comes into contact.
The mood set by “Before The Sun” locks in tightly and doesn't let listeners go through the eleven songs which follow it. Those with a healthy knowledge of rock history will be able to pick up the slivers of artists like The Kinks (in “Nowhere”), Barrett Strong (“Come Home”), Ben E. King (also in “Come Home”), The Ronettes (“Every Girl That I Meet”) and more throughout the album, but each song is made richer by those easily recognizable elements instead of coming off as derivative of them because each gives a sense of roots which haven't been touched on lately; it gives listeners the impression that Elk is going somewhere but wants to leave a starting point of reference before they leave.Because of that, when “You Know (You Don't Have To)” rolls through under the same sort of “old ideas with new steam” power, those who followed the band will feel invigorated, inspired and interested to run through the record again (good rock has always been addictive) to see if there might be any hints left behind to imply where Elk might be headed next. That's the kind of bait that every band hopes to lay down, but Elk has done effortlessly on Daydreams.
Artist:
www.music.cbc.ca/#/artists/Elk
http://elkelk.bandcamp.com/
www.myspace.com/elkelk
www.facebook.com/elkelkelkelk
www.twitter.com/elkelkelkelk
Album:
Daydreams is out now. Buy it here directly from Indoor Shoes Records.
