Review Summary: A Rollercoaster of Dramatic and Sometimes Mundane
If you are a fan of straight up quality vocals and on the spot tone with a catchy sound, we have a band for you. Yet, if you want some depth in a band, like strong melodies, killer guitar parts and unique lyrics, you might want to wait until Mexican Elvis matures. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the album, “John Frum Alaska”, with its catchy sounds and dramatic infrastructure, but there is something about it that didn’t quite click. Could it be the repetitive nature of some of the lyrics? They simple guitar sounds with one note being plucked for 2 measures? Maybe it's when Mexican Elvis uses single words as whole notes for entire choruses?
It’s not like this happened in every song though. There were some very unique and enjoyable tracks that kept me listening. Coming out of the shoot with “He Spent 3 Years Trying to Enter the Eurovision Song Contest” I was excited to hear what this band was all about. They have a good mix of female and male vocals that added depth. The piano is great and the melodies were very catchy. I even dug the guitar part and it’s consistency throughout the song, helping it progress.
Track 4, Friends, for example provided us with more complex melodies behind the duo’s strong vocal presence. It was engaging and the harmonies were something to really take in and enjoy. They also utilized dynamics as well, with the entrance of the cello and the soft acoustic beginning and ending.
My main troubles with the album lie in tracks 3, 6 and 9. They provide little change from their previous tracks and therefore give a feeling of unoriginality and come across somewhat boring. They lack ingenuity and fail where most “freshman” bands tend to fail. I’m the first to say that it is very difficult to create an album that keeps the listener involved and entertained for the entire length, and it rarely ever happens. But with Mexican Elvis, it is their lack of effort that makes this so.
Overall, I may have come across this band with high expectations and therefore wrote a somewhat negative review thus far. Let’s talk about the good things. The vocals are strong and original and there are many places in the album where you can find yourself bobbing your head or singing along. They have a somewhat original sound giving them a future that could possibly blossom into something fantastic. They know how to add dynamics very well, heaving the sound too and fro to create interest in the listener, and doing this by adding different instruments and sounds as well.
This album is turning out to be a rollercoaster of boring songs and great ones. With the latter being said, we can take what we want and leave what we don’t and hope that they produce something in the future a little more entertaining but with still the same high points from “John Frum Alaska”.
