Album Details

• Artist: Cage The Elephant
• Single:
Free Love/tiny Little Robots
• Label: Relentless
• Year of Release: 2006
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: solitaryman on 2007-12-04

Did I ever mention how much I love singles? Especially from bands I'm unfamiliar with; they are often the most sound (economically and musically) ways of making introductions. That being said, I think I'm holding one of the most surprising and enjoyable singles in a long while. Cage The Elephant are a Kentucky/UK-Based outfit playing a maxed-out, loud-as-hell spirit of rock that owes plenty to classic punk and modern rock acts like Queens of the Stone Age, Muse, and even Rage Against The Machine (mostly for the intensity and raw speed of these two tracks). Their promo sums it up nicely with this comparison; "A Mick Jagger-fronted RATM".

Side A is "Free Love", and it is the lesser of the two songs here, all the while being a great fucking tune. Extremely catchy riffs, guitars swirling and jangling all around, lustful and enigmatic lyrics much in the vein of a Mick Jagger or Robert Plant but in tone having more in common with Wolfmother's vocals. They infuse their sound with sudden tempo shifts, time changes and a very undermined progressive edge. This is pure go-nuts dancehall music, baby-making music at it's finest. 

Side B, "Tiny Little Robots" is even better, a more indie-rock styled number that depends on a nice mid-paced groove mostly. Vocalist Matt Shultz is given more room to show off, keeping in sync with the main riff wonderfully. This is a real toe-tapper, sometimes sounding like The White Stripes circa 1965, raw and garagey without losing much sound picture. Fucking awesome about sums it up.

Based on these two tracks, I am anticipating their upcoming LP more than most others. These guys have seemingly endless potential and for fans of ballsy, glammy and fuzzy rock in the vein of QOTSA should check this single out ASAP. It's highly unlikely you'll regret it. Keep an eye out for their full-length as well. 

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