Box Elders are a band that was comprised of two brothers, Clayton and Jeremiah McIntyre along with a drummer/keyboardist Dave Goldberg. It's been said that they create catchy off-kilter and fuzzy pop songs. *sigh* Well, I've listened to their Hole In My Head 7" before, and it isn't off-kilter, it was just fine. So, catchy, fuzzy pop songs? How many times have I read that???
Box Elders' music isn't exactly fuzzy, it definitely has a lower fidelity than your average band. But in this case, the murky reverb and slightly distorted sound gives them an older, more 60's-tinged sound. And back in the 60's, music like that wasn't considered lo-fi. So what's the point? But unlike all of the other lo-fi bands, Box Elders sound definitely a lot more innocent, trying not to focus on noise, but just the pure melody and tone of the song. The way more bands need to be these days.
However, Alice and Friends, their debut full-length, was a bit of a shocker for me. The guitar tone totally changed, it was louder and the main part of the songs, and now the tone is completely clean and hard to hear. Another thing is that three of the songs on the album are all redone songs from the old 7", but with the new sound and tone, I didn't really dig them. But let's jump into the question of whether or not the album is good. Yeah, it is. For three people, they're very talented when it comes to switching instruments. Now you may think that this can only be done when recording and most of the time, yes it can be. But go on YouTube, they do it live too.
Every band has certain standards to their music, meaning they can only be criticized if they're not doing what they're trying to do. Box Elders, for sure, does what they're going for and they don't miss a single note. They try to go for that old 60's sound that I had mentioned before. It works too. And it seems as though Goner, the label they signed to, is trying to gather up bands with a more nostalgic than noisy sound. Ty Segall, for example: if you listen to his music it's obvious that he was influenced by garage rock and classic rock bands.
So, if you're looking for some artificial 60's music to remind you of the good ol' days, Box Elders' debut Alice and Friends will be your time machine.
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