Elefant
The Black Magic Show
Label: Kemado
In stores: April 18

Man, Pitchfork hated this album. Somehow they got their hands on it in early February and just blasted it as throw-away 80s nostalgia rock. I was really disappointed, as I have really enjoyed listening to the Elefant’s 2003 disc, Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid a few times a month and had been looking forward to the new album for some time.

So it finally came in the mail, and I got a chance to listen through this weekend. Verdict: I like it, but I think working with producer Don Gilmore (Dashboard Confessional, Linkin Park, Duran Duran) might have been the first misstep between a solid second album and greatness. It’s just a bit too safe, a bit too formulaic, and regardless of their respective titles, The Black Magic Show doesn’t have the darkness of Sunlight.

Don’t get me wrong, The Black Magic Show is a solid rock album with lots of good tracks, but it lacks the dark dreary melodrama we expected.

Most tracks were written in frontman Diego Garcia’s homeland of Argentina, and I think that influence plus the three years of touring on the Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid album has given them a fresh sound that has embraces freedom rather than crutching on desperation.

With continued influences ranging from Bowie Cure, Robert Smith, Morrissey and Joy Division, it’s still a great album if you’re feeling all “American Psycho” doing lines in the bathroom, and if they were coming to Minnesota, I’d definitely go see them live. I’m just still a tad disappointed that the edge is gone. It’s Elefant on Prozac.

Just like the 80s decade itself, Elefant has moved on but never forgotten.