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at a glance...
Hometown: Manchester, England
Formed: mid-'90s
Members:
Gus Garvey - vocals
Mark Potter - guitar
Craig Potter - organ
Richard Jupp - drums
Pete Turner - bass
Notes:
Elbow met at college in Bury in the early 1990s, moved to Manchester and began honing the dense, atmospheric sound that would come together late in the decade. After two unfruitful major label deals fell apart (first with Island and then with EMI), a couple of EPs on Manc indie Uglyman garnered rave reviews and the more lasting affections of V2. Asleep in the Back appeared in England in 2001 and received a Mercury Music Prize nomination. A U.S. release followed in 2002.
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Elbow
Asleep in the Back
V2, Released 2001/2002
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It's hard to pigeonhole a band like Elbow, especially when they throw wine glasses and a wybercron (whatever the hell that is) into their musical mix. Singer Gus Garvey has often called Elbow "prog-rock with no solos," but they are fundamentally a rock band -- they just happen to dig organs, strange instruments and dense atmospherics more than your run-of-the-mill Oasis cover band.
Asleep in the Back, their official debut despite the fact that they've been together for a decade, has a layered density to it that is immediately obvious in "Any Day Now," the opening piece. Sinister bassline and drum pattern, a dream-like catchy chorus, and an organ (or is it a wybercron?) that just won't shut up (in a good way) -- it's got it all. Though, as with most of Elbow's songs, it may seem overlong at first, you'll soon find yourself sucked into it, wondering where the time went. Forget all your mediocre trip-hop and bombastic Brit-pop; this is atmospheric music that completely envelops your ears, mind and soul in its splendor. In other words, pack some worthy headphones.
Garvey's voice, as amazing as it is, at times takes a backseat to the band, though he lets his pipes soar on sections of "Powder Blue," which may inevitably lead to comparisons to Coldplay's Chris Martin. On the flipside, "Bitten by the Tailfly" shows the band's nastier side, with its vicious interplay between tribal drumming and a loudly distorted guitar riff after the chorus. Lyrically, it offers a particularly unromantic look at a predatory barflies (you know who you are), with Garvey almost speaking through "You're a girl in this vicinity / I'm a dog without a collar on / This cattle-market cabaret / Is the Sabbath every Saturday." That should convince everyone that these guys aren't just another bunch of hopelessly romantic whiners.
Most of the album's latter half quiets down a bit, but there's no denying the beauty of standouts "Newborn," and the poetic closer, "Scattered Blacks and Whites." Both reward repeated listens with unravelling, detailed melancholy. "Newborn," the album's centerpiece, is especially effective, its gradual crescendo plummeting into the utter tranquility of "Don't Mix Your Drinks." Elbow understand how to make an album flow without sacrificing the unexpected turns any good record should have. They show no fear, and this beautiful debut rewards them and us handsomely.
If you like Elbow, check out:
Coldplay Parachutes
Talk Talk Spirit of Eden
Doves Lost Souls
Starsailor Love is Here
Catherine Wheel Chrome
-- Bryan Wilson
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