Among new millennial '90s alt-rock revivalists,
Cage the Elephant
are distinguished by their elegantly sculpted melodicism and their eagerness to smooth their scuzz-rock -- equal parts
Pixies
and classic
Nuggets
-- to make their rock palatable to the masses. The two characteristics go hand and hand -- good melodies always beg for proper presentation -- and
CTE
's predilection for polish isn't without precedent:
producer
Gil Norton
was many things but raw was not one of them. To their considerable credit,
don't sound stuck in any one of their possible pasts on 2013's
Melophobia
, their third album and their most assured LP to date. Influences and heroes can be heard -- the
, sure, but also
the Strokes
on the tightly wound "Take It or Leave It,"
the Kills
(whose
Alison Mosshart
guests on "It's Just Forever") -- but
aren't recycling, they're synthesizing, mashing big, and swinging jagged guitars with candied melodies, furious rhythms, a slight hint of soul, and an echo of new wave.
is a thoroughly modern rock record, where all the past is alive in the present, so if you've ever had affection for any alt-rock sound from the '80s through the 2000s, it's hard not to find something to enjoy here. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine