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/

Velvet Elvis - No Rules In the Wasteland (Cae-sur-a, 2012)

Velvet Elvis – No Rules In the Wasteland
Cae-sur-a 2012

Velvet Elvis is a Rochester, NY based group consisting of guitar, bass, vocals and drums. This tape was recorded in 2011. Side A is a 15 minute long track, the title track. Things start off pretty heavy and sludgy on the guitars, but the pace in the riffs and the drums is pretty middle of the road. The recording is of a rather lo-fi quality, adding to the sludge. The guitars lighten up their sound a little as the lyrics/vocals enter. The music is quite structured in a rock mentality, i.e. chorus-verse-chorus-verse, etc. It isn’t really metal, because it isn’t that intimidating, but it definitely has the sludge and grit. I would call it sludgy psych rock. The next part of the piece goes into some really slow, heavy, stoner rock jams. The lo-fidelity, distortion, and grit coupled with the super slow pace of the song are all significant, contributing factors to making this kind of music really powerful. The riffing is quite simple technically, but with such weight and grandeur, it’s much better staying simple. The rock song structures fade out and the guitars enter some feedback-y, phased out guitar noise wash ending the piece.

"Pretty Girls In Lace" starts off wailing on the guitar, riding a bluesy, swinging, rock beat. Similar stoner rock song structure with really distorted guitars. "Stop and Think" doesn’t stray too far away stylistically from the rest of the tape. The only thing really noticeably different is that at times it is slightly more rhythmic and upbeat than the other songs. "Where’s Your Marlboro Man Now?" begins with some found sound/spoken word of a man talking about the Marlboro Man over some droning, feedback-y guitar wash (no drums), creating quite an eerie aesthetic. It’s the shortest song on the tape.



Cassette for purchase: http://www.cae-sur-a.com/ve-no-rules/