Your Elsie Review

Crush may be the song of the decade. It's amazing how the song's musical dynamism is able to overcome the somewhat cheesy "I've got a crush on you" line.

GOD'S GONNA TROUBLE THE WATERS!!!!

I just finished listening to this for the 4th time through at work. I think it actually gets better than amazing the more times you listen to it. It keeps sweeing me away so hard that I'm having a really hard time concentrating on anything else.

My favorite tracks (so far) are 'Black Betty & The Moon', 'I Believe Jesus Brought Us Together' and 'Behold The Hurricane'. I'm not a huge fan of 'Crush'....but then again, I hated 'American Slang' when I first got it.

Shrewsbury_Stars wrote:

Crush may be the song of the decade. It's amazing how the song's musical dynamism is able to overcome the somewhat cheesy "I've got a crush on you" line.

GOD'S GONNA TROUBLE THE WATERS!!!!

So true. The end of the song is simply staggering. Takes the song to a completely different level.

Having just listened to this right through for the fourth time, each time wholly undisturbed, but finally on the big system, all I can say that this album is absolutely, outstandingly, mesmerisingly, stunningly superb; I was just bowled over by the whole sound, the nuances, the instrumentation, the subtle vocals, the atmosphere, the ... everything.

I have my issues with Ted Hutt and the production on The '59 Sound and, for different reasons, on American Slang, but I can honestly say that in over a decade I have never heard an album on my big system which sounded this good.

I am just grateful for this album. Words now fail me.

steady now steady now wrote:

Having just listened to this right through for the fourth time, each time wholly undisturbed, but finally on the big system, all I can say that this album is absolutely, outstandingly, mesmerisingly, stunningly superb; I was just bowled over by the whole sound, the nuances, the instrumentation, the subtle vocals, the atmosphere, the ... everything.

I have my issues with Ted Hutt and the production on The '59 Sound and, for different reasons, on American Slang, but I can honestly say that in over a decade I have never heard an album on my big system which sounded this good.

I am just grateful for this album. Words now fail me.

You've said it better than my "ashdsafhjk" EVER could, brother.

All the slower (ish) songs seem to be my favorites. Sugar, Cherry Blossoms, Blood Loss and I Believe Jesus Brought Us Together. The last one being my favorite of the entire album, hands down. Seems I'm in the minority about that song, but it kills me more than any other track.

Ladykiller is straight fire

ok...i have officially changed my mind about 'Crush'. it's killer.

Wow, those backing vocals on Black Betty by Brian are really high

around 2:13

it's pretty good, it's no gaslight but i enjoy it. enjoyed it more than i thought i would to be honest. favorites are sugar (could cut 30sec-1min out though it seems long), go tell everybody (catchy little number), mary ann (just great) and i believe jesus brought us together.

myfuneralparty wrote:

All the slower (ish) songs seem to be my favorites. Sugar, Cherry Blossoms, Blood Loss and I Believe Jesus Brought Us Together. The last one being my favorite of the entire album, hands down. Seems I'm in the minority about that song, but it kills me more than any other track.

I'll happily be in that minority with you. That last track guts me most of all.

id have to agree with the comments above. only songs i cant really get into are ladykiller and crush. however, they are starting to grow on me. i do feel like each time i listen to the record, i hear new sounds as well. not sure what that "in the air tonight" sounding drum solo in mary ann is all about either...

Finally got to hear Cherry Blossoms.

I'm honestly somewhat speechless. The rest of the album ranges from "good" to "very good" but I mean "If I drove straight off this bridge only God and my baby would know. And I'm sure she'd be laughing, congering spring with some fellow that just said the right thing". Too soon to tell, but might rival Blue Jeans and 1930 for Brian's best song writing.

Angry Johnny wrote:

id have to agree with the comments above. only songs i cant really get into are ladykiller and crush. however, they are starting to grow on me. i do feel like each time i listen to the record, i hear new sounds as well. not sure what that "in the air tonight" sounding drum solo in mary ann is all about either...

If I remember right the drums in the studio were used on that song or something like that so they put in that drum part as a bit of an homage.

Best moment of the album for me is when cherry blossoms picks up into the tom waits-esque "see all i can do" part. incredible

Angry Johnny wrote:

id have to agree with the comments above. only songs i cant really get into are ladykiller and crush. however, they are starting to grow on me. i do feel like each time i listen to the record, i hear new sounds as well. not sure what that "in the air tonight" sounding drum solo in mary ann is all about either...

I was the same way. There was a few tracks in the middle I wasn't sure about, but now that I've spun it a few times, Elsie is totally on par with anything he's ever done. Unbelievable.

Ahhh, 12 days until I see the Horrible Crowes in LA and the day after as well!
I casually told my mother today,
even though I’m old now and I shouldn’t have to be afraid to ask
‘CAUSE I AM OLDERRRR NAOOOOO
AND WE DID IT WHEN WE WERE YOUNG.

Woops, wrong thread. O:

But I REALLY love Crush!
"I know a secret, everybody tell,
Who goes to heaven and who goes to hell,
I know one thing sure is true,
I never kept a secret, I got a crush on you...”

I HAVE 12 DAYS TO MEMORIZE THE LYRICS/SONGS.
I’m going to listen to each song religiously.

AWWWWW YEAHHHHH.

Steph, Cara will be on the phone with me the ENTIRE TIME. er, well, have me on the phone, presumably in her pocket. I will rely on you for pictures! You guys have to be my eyes and ears for this awesome event!

fullcollapse wrote:

Steph, Cara will be on the phone with me the ENTIRE TIME. er, well, have me on the phone, presumably in her pocket. I will rely on you for pictures! You guys have to be my eyes and ears for this awesome event!

AHAHAHHA!
Yes, ma’am I will be taking millions of pictures for you and for anyone else.

steffuhnee wrote:

fullcollapse wrote:

Steph, Cara will be on the phone with me the ENTIRE TIME. er, well, have me on the phone, presumably in her pocket. I will rely on you for pictures! You guys have to be my eyes and ears for this awesome event!

AHAHAHHA!
Yes, ma’am I will be taking millions of pictures for you and for anyone else.

Oh heyyy. I'll probably be there, so just because I know this, I'm gonna try to photobomb every picture I see being taken. Heyyyyy.

Just wondering, what part of LA are you from?

DeathoftheCool wrote:

Best moment of the album for me is when cherry blossoms picks up into the tom waits-esque "see all i can do" part. incredible

My best moment probably has to be the build up at the end of Go Tell Everybody, Brian going from whispering to screaming, and the strings in the background. Absolutely breathtaking.

I've given the record over ten listens now I think and I feel like writing down my thoughts.

First of all, I think it is damn good. The first listen didn't blow me away in the manner that I had hoped but after giving it the attention it deserves I can't conclude otherwise than that Elsie shows some damn fine musical craftsmanship of the highest quality. At times it is relaxing, at times it haunts you like a specter, at times it brings you to tears but every single song on the record is interesting and intense.

"Last Rites" is a nice to start things off with and it sets the mood well. I think it was steadynow who said that if "Sugar" got covered by a major pop/rnb artist it would be a guaranteed hit. I can't help but agree, the song is so good. It's just so... sweaty. "Behold The Hurricane" is a fantastic song, without a doubt. I'm afraid I listened to it a few times too often though before I had the full album, so it is kinda difficult for me to look at it like at the other tracks on the album. The bridge is amazing and blows me away every time: 'I heard the moon has visions of her nightly / I heard the might rivers cry out her name / I saw the heavens and the earth cry over you'. Insane.

At first listen "I Witnessed A Crime" sounded sorta out of place to me. The main riff with the organ sounded a little bit too upbeat I thought. I've had to adjust my opinion about that and I like it a lot right now. "Go Tell Everybody" is intense, especially the chorus and the outro. The outro really makes the song shine in my opinion. Who doesn't love that Brian roar? "Cherry Blossoms" reminds me of The National and I like The National. For now, the song is not that interesting to me though. I am sure we will get to like each other better once we've spent some more time together. It's nice and mellow after the sympathy growling.

"Ladykiller" (when I look at the booklet and the lyrics I see it named "Lady Killer" while the album back and the computer say "Ladykiller" by the way. I'll go with "Ladykiller".) is my stand-out track. Holy damn, it's good. The contrast between the mellow verse vocals in the beginning to the chorus and beyond is magical, only to do the same thing to me again in the bridge. The arrangement is brilliant and the lyrics are amazing, especially the chorus. 'Lady killer got the two of us' slaps me in the face every time. It kills. The laughing stings like a nest of hornets as well and I can see them pointing at me with their bony fingers every time the song ends. I don't even know if that is what they went for but hey, it happens. When it transitions into "Crush", I'm sold. I feel that the song has this quasi-immature edge to it that goes really well with the vocal style. Let's call it... controlled yelling? I don't know how to call it, but I love it when Brian does it. The outro is beautiful.

"Mary Ann" is a nice song. That's all I have to say about it right now. It doesn't do anything that special to me at the moment. "Black Betty And The Moon" suffers from the same fate as "Behold The Hurricane" in that I had heard so many times already. Quite frankly, I am a little bit disappointed by the final song. I loved the preview and I really hoped the whole song would be more like that. However, the final track consists of the brilliant two verses and choruses we heard in the preview and then gives us a bridge and a final extended chorus. Normally, I would love this song because of the first part but I can't help but feel let down by the fact that the preview was basically the best and the biggest part of the song. I wanted more of that intro riff and those verses. Ah well, I'm sure it'll work out.

I love "Blood Loss" and I have to smile every time the chorus starts. In my mind I sing 'YEEAAAH YEEAAAH' after 'OOVVEERRRR' "Baba O'Riley" style. Can't stop. "I Believe Jesus Brought Us Together" is a beautiful closer. It really does remind me of the way that "We Did It When We Were Young" ended American Slang but I think I like it more.

Sorry for the incoherent mess, I just really felt like writing something. It's just one of those days.

TL;DR: Elsie is awesome. I don't love every single part about her yet but I am convinced we'll get fully intimate later on. After all, I used to skip "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues" and I thought that "Casanova, Baby!" was rather annoying when I started listening to The '59 Sound.

Well said. I completely agree with the over listening of songs taking them out of the context of the album. I'm definitely going to steer clear of any audio preview from the next Gaslight album. I've learned my lesson.

I really love it! That's all I can say. I will probably listen to it insanely much since autumn's practically already here.

On a side note, I don't really get why people make such a big deal about the "I got a crush on you" line. Go listen to Springsteen's "Crush On You" and The Clash's "1-2 Crush On You" and you'll see what I mean, haha.

I've just fallen in love with the bridge on Crush.