Search - Home :: Elf: Gulf Bore Waltz

Lo-fi experimental indie rock and all that

A. Temple | Ann Arbor, MI | 07/22/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I found this album by accident at a used CD store in Northampton, MA. I was picking through piles of albums, grabbing everything that had an interesting title and listening to bits of them to see if any of them were any good. After record upon record of forgettable music I stumbled onto this and said "what the hell?", so I bought it. Now that I've heard the whole thing, this is one of the better indie rock albums I've heard. It reminds me quite a bit of early Olivia Tremor Control, but more developed, with similarities to Modest Mouse and just a pinch of _Camembert_-era Gong and early Zappa. Nearly every track has a surprise in it, from "Children Suite 2"'s slightly-off rhythms and stop-start vocals to the sudden mid-word cutoff and synth break in "Sweetener of Heart". Other highlights include the insanely catchy "Forgiveness" with its backing-vocal ostinato "you don't know a way that you can find yourself some peace of mind", the very psychedelic-sounding synth-and-chorus crescendo of "1 dB" and the truly bizarre "Wicked Ember Waltz", which makes use of a small chamber orchestra playing in a waltz rhythm. The second half or so of the album is a bit less engaging, with the exception of "Segnagation"--a song which takes from punk a sort of catchy simplicity without being boring or seeming stupid--and a bonus track combines music from other parts of the album into what can only be described as "prog-indie." But less engaging than the first half certainly isn't bad, as I love every moment of the first nine tracks. The only problem I can see with this album is that some people might find the vocals a little underdone, but I think that's part of the charm -- and if you've heard the band's recent album _XIV_, don't worry -- the underdone vocals are never painful or amateurish like the beginning of "Coming Up Empty Again." Overall, I give the album 4.5 stars -- 5 for the first half and 4 for the second."