Elf Power Return

I'm not exactly sure how long Elf Power has been kicking around but I do know it's been well over a decade and it's been so long that the band has seen them become trendy and hip and then fall out of favor only to survive on their own. These once legendary members of the Elephant Six stable have plodded along since the demise of their movement and have continued to create sixties influenced Americana and indie pop like they did back in the 90's. The problem for this once great band is that their later efforts have been so inconsistent and nearly too bizarre for their own good. Thankfully, I'm happy to report, they've found their inner Elephant Six again and come up with their best album in ages.

Sounding like they've been listening to a ton of Byrds records, it seems as though the spirits of Roger McGuinn and David Crosby have possessed the band and taken them over. Channeling all that energy into the songs, Elf Power sounds like some dusty, dreary, long lost record that was recorded in the summer of 69 and left in a steamer trunk until now. With pastoral chords, jangly guitars, lazy vocals, and a sense of nostalgia Elf Power are clearly locked in to the time period while bringing a slightly modern slant to their material. Elf Power is a nice throwback record that's easy to latch on to thanks to it's lackadaisical nature and easy come easy go songs that sound as if they were written on a cross country journey.

This is an uncomplicated record with nothing but good songs on it's mind and Elf Power construct them almost as if lots of twang, short time spans, and melodies were the most important things in the universe. Elf Power flourishes thanks to those things and while this isn't a jump up summery pop album, it's pastoral elegance and dusty nature will charm the headphones off of you. Whatever it is and whenever it was recorded is cool by me because it's just nice to have Elf Power around making great tunes and they've done that with their self-titled album. If you crave a dose of pastoral Americana with a bit of jangle then you'll absolutely love this record and band and for those of you who miss Elf Power at the height of their, err...power, you'll enjoy this record as well. Nice to have you back guys.