******
- Verified Buyer
Cage The Elephant's Thank You Happy Birthday is both surprising and impressive. This album makes it clear that they already knew what they wanted their music to sound like before their debut. When bands have a very strong first album, it's hard to follow it up with something that is fresh and still their own. Some bands can buck that trend, but few rarely do. Reading that they worked on 80 song ideas while on tour only makes me even more anxious for the third album.Whatever they have in the water in KY, it seems to be working. This is the best sophomore album in recent memory.On the one hand this album has some tracks that are much more polished than the first one. Songs like "Always Something," "Aberdeen" and "Right Before My Eyes" sound like they could have come right off of BRMC's Baby 81.Yet it still has that raw energy that makes CTE so powerful. "Sell Yourself," "Japanese Buffalo" and "Sabertooth Tiger" have the same raw energy that made "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked" such a great single.Other songs stand alone as stripped down indie rock. I love the smoother "Flow" and "Rubber Ball."The melodic "Shake Me down" and "Around My Head" have clear pop melodies mixed with a hard edge that reminds me of some of the best of 90s rock.It's hard to listen to "2024" without hearing the influence of classic punk rockers like The Ramones. And the rocking rhythm of "Indy Kidz" is infectious.CONCLUSIONIt's difficult to overstate how diverse and impressive this album is. I have seen this band a few times during their first tour, and their live performances have the same immediacy as their albums have had thus far. I highly recommend you give this record a listen. Not every song will appeal to every listener, but most will find at least a few tracks to their liking. And I suspect that the rest will grow on a lot of people.Enjoy.
