Athens, GA-based band Elf Power played a tight and charged rock n' roll set on Sunday night at Johnny Brenda's in Philadelphia. Opening for the band were current tour mates Ham1 (also from Athens and touring for their new album The Captain's Table and their latest EP The Underground Stream) as well as, locals Cheers Elephant. Both Elf Power and Ham1 have been on the road together this month in support via Elf Power's own record label Orange Twin. The label involves a group of like-minded musicians and individuals based in the Athens community (Je Suis France, Neutral Milk Hotel, Ham1, Elf Power, etc.) who have come together to form an eco-community. Elf Power's latest CD "In A Cave" is the band's 9th album to date, and gives us another great peek into the wild songwriting ability, and vivid imagination of lead-singer/guitarist Andrew Rieger. The Demon's Daughter, Window to Mars, and The Tired Army are soft and dreamy numbers that float under a gauze of psychedelic and saccharine folk-balladry, while songs like Owl Cut (White Flowers In the Sky), Spiral Stairs, and Quiver and Quake hit closer to home, using the trademark fuzz-guitar framework that EP are well-known for. Heads of Dust, Hearts of Lust and Midnight Crawls Out (the ending cuts) are delightful quieter numbers and crackle with bright production and effects. Think of the album as a book, having several great chapters of its own (Paralyzed, The New Mythology); with each chapter harder to choose as a favorite over the next. Elf Power prepare for a busy summer and fall schedule, with the group heading to Europe (Sweden, Norway, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales) for the rest of their tour dates, and another big release slated for this fall, playing alongside their close friend Vic Chesnutt (who they have previously and recently backed) on an album collaboration to be titled "Dark Developments".
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