Tuesday, 4 February 2014
The Ivory Elephant
Killer
solos and riffs that make you want to ride a chopper through a desert,
this blues rock 3-piece sound more from the Deep South than Melbourne,
Australia.
The Ivory Elephant proclaim
themselves as part of "the blues/rock renaissance of bands such as The
Black Keys and The White Stripes", and it isn't hard to hear the
influence. Hailing from the land of good, relatively unheard music, this
Australia-based heavy-blues 3-piece released their raw, lo-fi and plain
brilliant EP in January last year (with a new EP on its way). It's
available for purchase on the The Ivory Elephant's bandcamp, but all
songs can be found for free on their YouTube channel.
Their first and eponymous EP kicks off with 'Election Blues'.
Its distorted, desert-stricken guitar riffs defines the sound of the
album, its garage-rock influences evident as it pays homage to early
Black Keys and of course, Hendrix. In comparison to the rest of the
album, the song is tame. The guitar work is good but not the best in the
album, and the rough and raw vocals make you think less university-aged
boy and more 50-year-old experienced blues singer. The song sets high
expectation for the rest of the album, and The Ivory Elephant do not
fail to deliver.
As with most new bands, though, they're not perfect. "Here to Stay",
though proof of The Ivory Elephant's diversity, is boring throughout, a
disappointment to the rest of the EP, with uninteresting guitar riffs
and a misuse of Trent Starling's gritty vocals. "Like a Dog"
seems to be the same way, but the lengthy and frankly excellent guitar
solo towards the end of the song makes up for the boring start.
There are two songs on the album that are pure modern blues masterpieces. "What's Good for You" proves
the band's potential, with a cigarette-smoking, whisky-drinking,
air-guitar-inducing heavy riff that is not only reminiscent to Hendrix,
but of The Ivory Elephant's native hard-rock cousins, Wolfmother. At
only 2:44, the song leaves you wanting more.
"Be Bad"
reminds us just how sexy blues music can be. The song, contrasting
dark, quiet vocals with its loud, filthy guitar riffs that are oh-so
evident throughout makes for a brilliant end to a promising debut EP.
Overall, there
isn't much to complain about. Imperfections are outweighed by Black
Keys-esque simplistic riffs, followed by solos that show real guitar
skill. The vocals, though not the best (but since when did it matter in
blues?) match the lo-fi sound of the album and is a joy to listen to.
Rough, jagged and relentless, this is a must buy for any blues fan.
9/10 - A great debut EP.
Price: £4.74 ($7.45) on iTunes.
Bandcamp: http://theivoryelephant.bandcamp.com/
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