Big Elf
"Money Machine"
Record Heaven
By Vinnie Apicella Good heavens I think we've stumbled onto TV Land in musical form here. From a Swedish-based label basing their reputation on the nostalgic trip that Rock & Roll music goes through, say every eight or nine years, their latest find, L.A.'s Big Elf is indeed big on that blown up sound of the '70s where late great performers built upon tripping the light and strobe-light fixations of a decade earlier to forge the new arena Rock spectacle. Taking a major step forward from the current crowd forming around the whole Stoner Rock and Doom regeneration, Big Elf's sound is both biting and mesmerizing, high on harmony, their flighty compositions are imitative of some of the many great jam band performers of the past. Indeed their Beatles meets B.O.C. influence is profound particularly in the guitar/vocal department where surging power chords and polished vocals from Damon Fox, who does a very Lennon-esque interpretation. The rest of the band churns onward in an enchanting sort of mood fed with Sabbath riffs, a heady Hammond organ and psychedelic fixtures. "Money Machine" has a cover that features a distorted background image of the famed Capitol building beyond the three imposing musical figures, fronted by Christ himself, or so it would seem, but where's the fourth after all? Their "theme" based apparently on those corporate vultures that bleed a band for all their worth, sucking their musical soul dry and leaving them to wilt and wither away in the fading sunshine of another year gone by. Taken to extremes, well focused tunes like "Money Machine," "Sellout," "Side Effects," and so on, tell a pointed tale of greed and corruption-well not quite but there's an integrity driven slant to their focus as well as their high flying peace-loving lift that made the careers of a chosen few before them-popular or otherwise, then music was built seemingly on a freedom of expression rather than dollar signs and destruction of property. While this is a niche market to be sure, there's always the chance Big Elf will strike a nerve and aim their analog equipment straight toward a new generation of listeners ready to be enlightened beyond the bong. Either that or maybe they'll have to unleash the pink elephants on them.
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