Elephants Uncaged
4 Out Of 5 Stars
After the long slow climb of their debut album, Cage The Elephant finally get to release their second. "Thank You Happy Birthday" has allegedly been in the can for some time, but with the long arc of the debut's success, these songs have been laying in wait for almost a year. The difference between the two albums is striking. Where the first album seemed to be chasing Kings of Leon's brand of southern steamed Stones, "Thank You Happy Birthday" finds Cage The Elephant racing away from the straight up, greasy rock of album one and lunging headfirst into "Nevermind" with a serious dusting of Pixies dust.
Their worldview reamins the same, with plenty of Us V Them raging. "Indy Kidz" and "Sell Yourself" are broadsides that seemed oddly aimed at the kind of kids who'd dig the band anyway. "2024" has a raging punk propulsion driving its screaming guitar, yet the final song "Flow" plays like a jam band's kiss goodnight. Vocalist Matt Schultz has surprising rock range in that he manages both the punk-funk angst of "Sell Yourself," the whispery croon of "Flow" and the gravely rock of "Aberdeen" and "Shake Down" (in my opinion, the disc's two best songs).
The rest of the band is keeping right up with him. "Thank You Happy Birthday" is a reckless sophomore album that lurches from style to style with total abandon and little regard for cohesion. Cage The Elephant are fortunate in that their newness gives them enough edge to keep this disparate batch of songs from collapsing in on itself. There are moments ("Indy Kidz" and "Around My Head") where the contrivance gets too obvious, but the pluses here far outweigh the minuses. "Thank You Happy Birthday" finds Cage The Elephant whupping the sophomore slump with a sturdy, rocking records.
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