Die Clystersinger Von Kentucky

Cage The Elephant
Album: Cage The Elephant
In One Ear (album)

Alright.  Enough fey twee shit.  Enough experimental rock.  It's all good, of course, but sometimes you gotta spaz out to straight up rock 'n' roll.  When the itch hits you just gotta scratch.  The White Stripes are good in a pinch.  The Hives too.  But these days no band cranks my handle as much as those snotty Kentucky-bred garage fiends, Cage the Elephant.

The soul of the band is the Shultz brothers -- Matthew (singer) and Brad (rhythm guitar).  Matthew, whose vocal prowess might charitably be described as "limited," is a hell of a front man.  Watch any of Cage the Elephant's live shows and you will invariably see him thrashing around onstage to the point of sheer exhaustion.  At times this makes it difficult for him to sing...but frankly that's not always the greatest loss.  Besides, listening to him gasp out the vocals only adds to the sense of desperation: rock and roll, do or die.  Brad, on the other hand, spends most of his time hunched over his guitar in a state of quasi-ecstatic bliss, hacking away like a retarded lumberjack.  But it's cool.  Trust me.

Remarkable what three chords, a crazy-catchy hook, and a decent rhythm section will get ya.  If you listen to this tune at work, I urge you to nod your head politely to the beat.  If you listen to this at home, however, I recommend getting naked and throwing yourself around your living room like a rock-fueled banshee.  It's cleansing.

Cage the Elephant: an aural clyster, of sorts.