Cage The Elephant - Mess Around

 

 

 

1. Who are they?

A very popular, genre hopping, indie rock band from Bowling Green, Kentucky. Cage The Elephant have four long players in the bank and Mess Around (Oct'15) is the first single off their fourth album Tell Me I'm Pretty (Dec'15).

2. What kind of tune is Mess Around?

A garage rocker with a large dose of 60's pop. The background vocal adds a dash of psych-pop to the mix. Catchy as the flu.

3. Who do Cage The Elephant sound like?

Well plenty of mention has been made of The Black Keys in regard to Mess Around because Dan Auerbach their guitarist and vocalist plays on the track and produced the new record. But the desert rock groove has plenty of players from The Arctic Monkeys to Hanni El Khatib. The band have said the song was inspired by Jay Reatard's guitar playing, Creedance Clearwater Revival and Outkast.

For all the talk of them being a derivative band I don't know exactly who they sound like. A smidgeon of The Fratellis, a smattering of Black Rebel Motorcycle Cub and a liberal dash of The Family Rain is a good start. Throw in The Black Lips too. As the New York Times said, "Cage the Elephant’s music slices across multiple eras of rock."

4. So what are the press saying?

Cage The Elephant have reached a large audience and now the press are dialing back their love. Music Times thought Mess Around is “a sort of surfer rock groove (with) an infectious sense of fuzziness,” and “rooted in (Cage The Elephant's) dirty rock’n’roll style.” Consequence of Sound ho-hummed that Mess Around is “immediately satisfying and entirely familiar,” and a tune where “fuzzed-out guitars collide with an instantly singable hook.”
 

The new album Tell Me I'm Pretty is “a confident, eclectic rock record with heaps of personality and charm,” concluded Drowned In Sound. Forget Today was effusive, “their perfect sound; fuzzy guitars, brisk pace and a snappy chorus for good measure,” and Gigwise was on the nose,“ ‘Tell Me I’m Pretty’ is a triumph.”
 

 

5. Who are Cage The Elephant’s influences?

The new album was influenced by a jam session with the guitarist from The Doors. The Pixies and Nirvana have been mentioned in despatches. A punk bent has been revealed with joy for The Ramones, The Stooges, Violent Femmes, Black Flag and Butthole Surfers. Oldies get a word in with love for Chuck Berry, Little Richard, The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix.

6. Why should I listen to Mess Around?

It merges a classic fuzzy rock sound that lurks in your subterranean brain with the impulses of the hottest American indie band making music right now. It'll make you run around like a puppy and trash your room.

7. What other good tunes have Cage The Elephant got banging around?

The tippy top of the pile is Jesse James. Oh my god it is a ripsnorter. Next you can't go past Aint' No Rest For The Wicked and In One Ear is in the vanguard. You can figure the rest out from here.

 

8. Is there anything else I need to know?

The band found inspiration in the diverse nature of David Bowie's musical career for the new album Tell Me I’m Pretty.

Dave Grohl from Nirvana and The Foo Fighters drummed for Cage The Elephant when their drummer was sick.

Cage The Elephant have been fluffers for big rockers like Muse, The Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age.

“She'll show you what she's made of
Yeah she's comin' for ya
She's gonna try to break ya”

 

 

The double dip is courtesy of The Family Rain, an indie blues rock band from Bath, Englandt, Trust Me I’m A Genius (2014).