"Drunk Elk LP"
Repress - April 8, 2017 - Goaty Tapes / House Rules
Originally recorded in 2007 in Tasmania
Psych rock, no wave, lo-fi, synth rock
“Drunk Elk LP” is the first full length release from the Australian Trio, “Drunk Elk.” It was originally released in 2007 as a self-titled cassette on Inverted Crux, a label run by Australian artist Sean Bailey. Drunk Elk consists of four members, altogether making a band of bass, keyboards, guitar, and vocals.
I picked up this record at Analog Underground in Providence from the psych section. At the time, I was buying records based the covers, and if they looked cool or not. I also didn’t have that much money and “Drunk Elk LP” was only 12 dollars. It would be the first record I played on my record player after fixing the counter weight issues I had for a few months.
The record opens up with “Quintessence,” a song that sounds like an underground Joy Division cover. There’s a simple bass riff, and Dave Elk sings lusty lyrics for someone. He says:
Play that strange tune again,
That off key melody
The production on this opening track carries throughout the rest of the record. Every song has a constant drone of keyboard that sounds like an organ MIDI, and it all feels as if it's been run through a four track twice. Put some fuzzy vocals on top of this with the mention of a girl’s name, and I guess you could describe it as psych rock.
To me, it is more like desperate no-wave, in the best way possible. The layering of everyone’s contribution to the project is very bare bones, and makes Drunk Elk seem like a grasp for something that is missed, but wherever it lands instead is just as good, if not better.
FFO: Dead C, Warsaw, Joy Division, Soft Cell, Talk Talk
