Its all about the power these days, regardless if it comes in elf or cat form. But really none of what I'm telling you right now would make much sense if you weren't familiar with either party to begin with. Let's take a quick crash course...
Cat Power, whose umpteenth album Jukebox, Charlyn 'Chan' Marshall's second covers album, was released mid-January, has been a controversial one this year. While critics such as Filter, Prefix Magazine and Rolling Stone have been raving about this album, other notables such as Pitchfork, Blender and Spin were just a few who were not as impressed. Her vocals play the killer here - there's no one out there who comes close to her smooth-sounding pipes.
Once every review, good or bad, is churned out, Cat Power can be expected to turn up on many 'best of' lists at the end of this year. She's a solid artist with a lot of background and experience, thus has put that all behind Jukebox, and it shows. Let's also not forget the large amount of publicity she's recieved. It says a lot when your album is being sold in Target.
MP3: Cat Power - New York (buy)
MP3: Cat Power - Metal Heart (buy)
But really for me , I prefer the crew left out of the spotlight this year so far. I'm talking about Elf Power, from Athens, Georgia. "Odd name" you're probably thinking. Yes, odd, but 'no' to the other question you may be pondering. They did not copy their name from Cat Power. In fact, Elf Power's first release was a year earlier than CP's Dear Sir (1995). Curse of Yoth-Bal-Tzar was released back in 1994 on cassette. The chance of them being aware of each other is not even a reality.
Elf Power consists of seven musicians, with Andrew Rieger with the vocals in the forefront. Their latest album In A Cave, released just this past week on Tusday, leans more towards a folk/rock approach. Songs such as "Quiver and Quake" and "Softly Through The Void" are pleasantly upbeat, melodic and would perfectly compliment a tall glass of lemonade in the summer. Trust me on this.
MP3: Elf Power - An Old Familiar Scene (buy)
MP3: Elf Power - Spiral Stairs (buy)
MP3: Elf Power - Midnight Crawls Out (buy)
Elf Power takes the advantage for me and I urge you to check them out. Whether everyone may either truly enjoy Cat Power, or just use the chic name as an indie music name-drop, we will all know the truth. The power of the Elf reigns this time around.
Visit Elf Power on MySpace then pop on over to Cat Power on MySpace to listen to some samples.
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