Sardonic Aggression

build a rocket boys! elbow

Maturity is a bad word when it's applied anywhere in the world of rock. A world ruled by drippy pop stars who paint you escapist portraits of non-stop parties, the "empowerment" found in sex and empty-hearted revenge fantasies leaves little room for music by those who've lived a little, have a story to tell, and choose to tell you in a way that won't insult your intelligence.

I used to (flippantly) call Elbow "Coldplay for smart people," but that sells them pitifully short. Warm, meticulously detailed pop songs that are enriched by the small things: shaker percussion, carefully placed strings with a restraint that is rewarded when they kick it out and raise their voices at just the right moment. This is a band that has been making top notch pop records for several years, and hit it reasonably big last time out with The Seldom Seen Kid, which yielded "One Day Like This," a song that won them a Mercury Prize and subsequently became the backdrop for TV montages, movie trailers and hoisted what had been a cult band into an unfamiliar spotlight.

Their reaction to all that? To act like they'd been there before. To put out a record that is the sound of a band growing creatively and moving steadily forward. Listen to "Lippy Kids," "Open Arms" and "Jesus is a Rochdale Girl" and be glad that there's still bands out there that make music for grown-ups, biting but rarely cynical, able to take a look back without being too nostalgic, and warm without tripping over sentimentality. Build A Rocket Boys! came out just yesterday, and frankly, I can't wait to see what this band is going to do next.

Other great Elbow records: Cast of Thousands, Leaders of The Free World, The Seldom Seen Kid.
Other bands that sing great grown-up rock but would probably frown on that characterization: The National, Wilco.