Velvet Elvis - Favorite Horses (Cae-sur-a, 2012)

Velvet Elvis – Favorite Horses
Cae-sur-a 2012

Velvet Elvis consists of Brandon Henahan on guitar, Luke Crozier on bass and vocals, Randall Coon on guitar and vocals, Karrah Teague on vocals, keyboards, and percussion, and Ryan T-bo on drums. "Solid Gold" features some heavy stoner rock song structures that we were introduced to a few posts back with their No Rules In the Wasteland tape. In comparison, I would say that this first track is a bit more on the lighter side because the guitars aren’t so sludgy and the pace is a little more upbeat. However, they are still busting out the blues guitar solos so no letdown there. "Mystical Creature" opens with some signature, low, distorted guitar or bass. A bluesy guitar riff or melody repeats creating quite a hypnotic and psychedelic aesthetic. Some pretty demonic vocals chime in screaming, “Well oh yeah!!!” The rest of lyrics are sung in a rather beautiful, bluesy, stoner rock kind of way. The pairing of male/female vocals singing in a call and response style and also in unison really highlight the track. "Space Cadet" features another slow, heavy jam filled with more bluesy crooning and guitar solos. "Coke Smoker" picks up the pace a bit in one jam getting pretty psyched out I feel like I’m riding out into the cosmos. "Nobody’s Fool" is the most uncharacteristic song on the tape. It consists of an acoustic guitar strumming in a kind of gentle, old, country folk style. The vocals enter in male/female duo fashion singing harmonies, and call and response. They also have this country style inflection in their singing voices, sounding somewhat different than that blues aesthetic heard earlier. Quite a beautiful and heartfelt way to end the tape.



Cassette for purchase: http://www.cae-sur-a.com/006-velvet-elvis-favorite-horses/