Thee Michelle Gun Elephant-Rumble
Turisa M. Rucker | Austin, Texas, USA | 02/12/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Before you dismiss them as another Japanese band with a Japanese-English name, BUY AND LISTEN TO THIS CD! It's a compilation of some(but not all) of their best songs from four of their earlier albums. The only gripe I have about it is that it doesn't include any songs from their most recent album called "Gear Blues". Thee Michelle Gun Elephant are big fans of Billy Childish of Thee Headcoats and you can hear some of his influence in their songs. They call themselves a "pub rock band" and there is definitely a late 60's British rock feel to their music but for the most part, they have come up with something truly original. Their song "Get Up Lucy" is nothing less than a classic. I haven't liked a song this much since I was in high school when music was the only thing that mattered. Every song on this CD goes to show that they can write and play music really, really well. Besides "Get Up Lucy", there are ten other songs on this album that prove that rock is alive and well in Tokyo, and it's sounding better than it has in a long time. In case you're wondering, the singer's (Chiba Yusuke) lyrics are almost entirely in Japanese. If you think that would detract from the music in anyway, you're wrong. I can't understand a word he's saying but then I never liked the Rolling Stones any less for not being able to understand what Mick Jagger was singing, either. Chiba has a distinctive voice and singing style and plays a really mean harmonica. It goes without saying that the rest of the band is awesome, too. Incidentally, their live shows are amazing. An obvious similarity would be Guitar Wolf but whereas Guitar Wolf claims that, "it's not how you play; it's how you look when you play", Thee Michelle Gun Elephant have decided to cover all of the bases."
Track Listings (4) - Disc #1