By Emily Marshman
Recommended tracks: “Broken Boy,” “Love’s the Only Way,” “House of Glass”
If you know anything about music at all, you’ll know for a fact that Cage the Elephant are indie royalty, and it’s easy not to bat an eye at that fact. Not to question it. Not to wonder what it is about Cage the Elephant that made Social Cues one of the most-anticipated albums of 2019. But here is the reality of the new album, and all of their albums, really: Cage the Elephant make music that walks hand-in-hand with your nostalgia, and that might be neither a good nor a bad thing. Bass-heavy and about as easy to bop your head to as they come, their newest album is the latest in a long line of stylistically similar full-lengths, but it’s safe to say that it works for them, and you shouldn’t fix what isn’t broken, right?
The five-piece from Bowling Green, Kentucky – although they rose to fame in England – are most commonly known for their singles that received attention from radio stations: “Come a Little Closer,” “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked,” etc. Over the years, and through their five full-length albums, their sound has evolved, decidedly more rock than pop, now. They’ve cemented themselves as first-round picks for festival lineups and as top-of-the-hour artists for indie radio stations. Their unique sound stems from a career-long struggle against labels and genres.
Social Cues begins with “Broken Boy,” a track that is unexpectedly reminiscent of surf rock. The song is harsh and loud and in your face – exactly the right opening to pull you in, sink its teeth, and not let go. By track four, “Night Running” – featuring Beck of all people – the album has picked a tone and stuck with it. When all of the tracks blend together like that, it’s difficult to keep your bearings, but it’s easy to enjoy when they’re all equally banging. “House of Glass,” the exact halfway point of the album, is a faster, lower track, signalling almost a shift in tone from the first half of the album to the second.
It’s important, I believe, to judge an album based on both the character of its lyrics (from “Love’s The Only Way”: “Look out for yourself, it’s all the rage / You make up the rules or so they claim / One day you’ll find life’s not a game / It’s not the wave that moves the sea / But the sea that moves the wave”) and the tone of its instrumentals. It’s also important to note that this album was written following the divorce of the band’s frontman, Matt Shultz, and undertones of that feeling, that grief he describes, is layered throughout its tracks.
Cage the Elephant can be found on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and on their website. Catch them at Shaky Knees Festival in Georgia the first weekend in May, across Europe throughout the month of June, and on tour with Beck the rest of the summer. They’ll also be making an appearance at the fiftieth anniversary of Woodstock, in Watkins Glen, NY.
