Review Summary: Cage the Elephant finally makes the music they want to, and the results are both bizarre and satisfying.
Melophobia is a term that refers to a fear of or aversion to music, but on Cage the Elephant’s latest release there is little reason to be scared. Sure, it’s a bit of a departure from the catchy, alternative rock we’ve heard from Cage the Elephant on the radio, but it finally sounds like the band is making the music it wants to.
For those only familiar with their mainstream successes -- “In One Ear,” “Ain’t No Rest For the Wicked,” “Shake Me Down,” “Back Against the Wall” -- the majority of the music on their freshman and sophomore records was much more raw and unrefined than those few radio hits. It wasn’t a bad formula per se, but their previous records lacked cohesion as the band struggled through an identity crisis, debating whether they wanted to be more accessible to radio or more honest to their artistic tendencies. That’s how a melodic, catchy song like the above-mentioned “Shake Me Down” and a schizophrenic, headbanger like “Indy Kidz” ended up appearing side by side on their last album. In the recording of “Melophobia,” Rolling Stone reported that Cage the Elephant “stopped listening to recorded music almost entirely in order to avoid influences seeping in.” This album, for better or worse, is the purest incarnation of Cage the Elephant out there. Fortunately for the Kentucky-based band, Cage the Elephant’s unadulterated sound is a good one.
In the album, the band fully embraces their blues and garage rock tendencies. Lead track “Spiderhead” features raucous guitar that would feel at home on a White Stripes record, while “Black Widow” ebbs and flows between aggressive Black Keys-esque blues rock and high-pitched choruses. Their preoccupation with blues and garage rock comes through the clearest on the first half of the bizarre, five and a half minute “Teeth,” in which an amalgamation of trumpets, guitars, and drums bowl the listener over with sound before lead singer Matthew Shultz starts ranting about the crumbling state of the artistic scene (among other things) over a methodical drumbeat for the second half of the song.
While there are no songs on here that were clearly constructed for radio like the ones found on their previous releases, there are still a decent number of songs that are accessible enough for radio. “It’s Just Forever” is another number where the blues rock influence takes over, but on this particular track Alison Mosshart of The Kills is featured and adds another dimension to their sound. My personal favorite though, is still their first single, “Come a Little Closer.”
“Come a little closer, then you’ll see / Come on, come on, come on, / Things aren’t always what they seem to be,” croons Shultz as he urges people to search for the deeper meaning in life’s obstacles. Backed by phenomenal guitar work and impassioned drumming, the song is quite possibly their best to date.
Among other instances, the ranting in “Teeth,” the unconventional electronically induced ending to “Spiderhead,” and the out of place trumpet throughout the alternative rock track “Hypocrite,” make “Melophobia” a strange album. However, at the end of the day, it’s the most honest Cage the Elephant album yet, and quite frankly, the most impressive too.
3.7/5
