Photo by Brittany Pyle
Elsinore, of Champaign, Illinois, does something new in a surprisingly familiar way. Maybe new is the wrong word to use, but there are only a handful of bands1 doing something similar to what Elsinore does.
The band is not afraid to embrace the lost art of harmony. At times they have more part harmony than I’ve heard since my high school choir days. Thank heavens the pitch is perfect or this would be intolerable. They really pull it off.
Their song Landlocked is close to 7 minutes long. Though I’m not a fan of big, fluffy, lengthy and epic song segments without epic vocals to match, I listened to this whole song on accident without realizing it was happening. I think that means they did a good job. Speaking of vocals, Ryan Groff’s lead vocals are crystal-clear and pleasantly high. They’re especially enticing when you catch some of their smarty-pants lyrics2.
Listening to Groff’s vocals coupled with the interesting sound of their instrumentation, I can’t help but imagine I’m watching a new Wes Anderson film. Like most of the other parallels I’ve drawn, it’s more of a tip of the hat than a full-body check.
Here and there they get this weird old-timey feel. Sometimes I fancy I’m listening to Elton John pretend to be a player piano somewhere in the old west.
Really neat band, I’m looking forward to seeing what comes of these guys.
1. See The Snake, The Cross, The Crown, The Shins
2. “landlocked by cash crops” etc.
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