ARTiST: The Elms
ALBUM: The Great American Midrange
BiTRATE: 218kbps avg
QUALiTY: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.97 Final / -V2 --vbr-new / 44.100Khz
LABEL: Warner
GENRE: Rock
SiZE: 79.87 megs
PLAYTiME: 0h 49min 24sec total
RiP DATE: 2009-12-31
STORE DATE: 2009-09-15
Track List:
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01. Strut 3:25
02. Unless God Appears First 4:15
03. Country Fair 2:47
04. The Wildest Heart 3:58
05. Long Road 4:12
06. The Shake 2:26
07. The Good Guys 4:04
08. The Little Ways 3:47
09. Back To Indiana 3:29
10. This Is How The World Will End 4:37
11. Thunderhead 3:46
12. A Place In The Sun 8:38
Release Notes:
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THE GREAT AMERICAN MIDRANGE: a superbly fitting title for the fourth album from
THE ELMS, the Indiana-born quartet who have become torchbearers for modern
American rock & roll since their inception early in the new millennium. They
build solidly upon a tradition that stretches from The Band to The
Heartbreakers, with deep roots in the muddy working soul of their home country.
TheyÆve also always fortuitously engaged the musical sweet spot of honoring the
past while living in and embracing the present.
A large part of what makes THE GREAT AMERICAN MIDRANGE so compelling is that
itÆs certainly no fluke. The album represents the culmination of nearly 8 years
of ambitious, steady work by THE ELMS and reflects directly who the band are as
both musicians and active, engaged citizens. Natives of Seymour, Indiana --
perhaps best-known as the birthplace of John Mellencamp -- THE ELMS formed in
2001, releasing two albums and performing 400 shows before seeing 2005 lead to a
major-label contract with Universal South Records, who released the
critically-acclaimed The Chess Hotel in 2006. THE ELMS supported The Chess Hotel
with extensive touring that found them sharing stages in the U.S. and Europe
with artists as diverse as Band of Horses, Shooter Jennings, the Fratellis,
Switchfoot, Goo Goo Dolls and Buddy Guy, a good indication of the bandÆs wide
appeal and refusal to fit into any niche categories. Their idols have taken
notice: no less than Neil Young, Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp invited the
group personally to play Farm Aid when they rolled their annual benefit festival
into Boston in 2008.
WhatÆs striking about THE GREAT AMERICAN MIDRANGE is its rich resonance, how the
band's songwriting has deepened, and how the rest of THE ELMS û Owen's
percussionist brother Christopher, guitarist Thomas Daugherty, and bassist
Nathan Bennett û rise adeptly to interpretive challenges. The band assures that
the record's blues-heavy bombast ("Strut", "The Shake") exists properly against
its deep, emotional turns ("The Wildest Heart", "The Little Ways") while
embracing their pop sensibilities with simple yet huge hooks (ôCounty Fairö,
ôBack to Indianaö). And at the album's most vulnerable, as in the closing track
"A Place In The Sun," unguarded sentiments of the working everyman emerge:
"I sit in the willows, my hat on my knee.
There's a man in my shoes where a boy used to be.
I'm wore-out and weary, but before my time's done
I need to find me a place in the sun."
THE GREAT AMERICAN MIDRANGE is tied together through vivid lyrical themes and
its sound, which is the most coalesced of any of THE ELMS' work to date.
Spirited melodies, brazen riffs, and tightly-knit rhythms assemble throughout
the album, which was co-produced and recorded by the band and longtime friend
Brent Milligan at Warner Bros. Studios in Nashville. THE ELMS entered a dream
scenario post-recording, with engineer Adam Kasper (Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters,
Queens of the Stone Age) handling final mix duties. Owen explains the process:
"Adam mixes songs quickly, even when he doesn't necessarily need to. He just
works very instinctively. I'd sign off on a mix, go down the street to get a
sandwich, come back, and he'd have another one ready to listen to." As a result,
the songs are thrilling and alive, containing raw performance energy coupled
with the finesse of finely-detailed production sensibilities. Finally, the album
was mastered by industry legend Bob Ludwig, who has performed similar tasks for
the Rolling Stones, U2, The Who, REM, and scores of other rock luminaries.
Appropriately, THE ELMS arenÆt content to rest on tradition. they build upon it,
bringing their fans in closer to release THE GREAT AMERICAN MIDRANGE in
innovative fashion via their own brand-new TRUST Incorporated label. "The
challenge of putting together our own ideas for releasing music is one that
energizes me," says Owen. "It just seemed that we didn't identify with
traditional labels anymore as it pertains to progressive things we want to do,
primarily in the way of the distribution and mapping our own ideas for
incentivizing digital music. There will be various interpretations of the album,
different digital incarnations that are just incongruent with record label
thought, and that's fine." Fans who purchase the album digitally through the
bandÆs website (TheElms.net) will be offered a "complete" version of the album û
not simply a collection of demos, but an entirely acoustic interpretation of the
whole album set of 12 songs, for a total of 24 audio tracks. Many bands would
serve up perfunctory alternate takes, doing no more than the situation requires,
but THE ELMS go above and beyond the call of duty here, as they always do.
With THE ELMS and their music feeling more purposed than ever, there couldn't be
a more promising time for the band's breakout moment to arrive. When their
intentions are most evident, like in the thunderous chorus of "This Is How The
World Will End", it is obvious that THE ELMS are not afraid to ask us all to
join them in going above and beyond:
"Bring a chair up to the table, bring a message to the crowd.
Where's a common trust to deliver us from the wretched and the proud?
Sing a tune about the promise. Speak on that which we depend.
And if a certain light don't shine again, baby, this is how the world will end."
Again, a reflection of the band's big, resilient heart: a heart that beats bold
and strong on THE GREAT AMERICAN MIDRANGE.
-Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Summer 2009.