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ELEVADO
Occidental Oriental (Self released)
Reviewed by Jeremy Barker
"Never trust anyone over thirty," Cain Wong says to me after their show. He's just gotten off of a small stage. More accurately he simply walked off because there wasn't room for him and his laptop on stage. Liz Reeds, Cherry Street, downtown Macon. The club is small and filled with cigarette smoke more than people. The "crowd" consists of myself and a few others. They're in bands, too. Waiting to go on to play in front of practically no one. It's the type of thing that seems to bind underground types together. I definitely feel like part of the group, thanks to Elevado in no small part.
"I thought that we weren't giving that disc to writers," Justin Sais says to Cain. I hold onto the disc. I'm drunk, and I want to keep it.
"Don't worry. It's in good hands," I assure him. And so, I got a copy of Occidental Oriental.
On stage, Elevado is youthful and aggressive in their angular guitar attacks. With two laptops, both barely on stage, a drummer on a makeshift riser and guitarist Jonathan Vance out on the dance floor, they can barely contain the raw energy coursing through their set. The PA system is shitty, but it doesn't matter too much at Liz Reeds.
The contrast between their live show and their recorded sound is like the difference between Margaret Thatcher and Abraham Lincoln. There's little to no way to compare the two, as they are different entities on their own, separated by every possible constraint. While the live show is energetic and fervent in it's own immediacy, Occidental Oriental is lush and sprawling, with acoustic guitar flourishes and peppered with laptop blips and off kilter drum beats. Lyrically, the album moves between barely hushed and mumbled vocals ("Good Advice") to full head attack ("Disappointment").
The album, put together via the Internet due to the band’s long distance status of the time, moves seamlessly through its disparate tracks. While each song sounds different, the overall cohesiveness of the album is prevalent. Each cut sounds professional and thought out. And Elevado hardly ever repeats itself, keeping each song fresh and listenable.
Fans of The Moon and Antarctica era Modest Mouse and the lap pop sensibilities of Dntel and The Notwist will enjoy this band. Anyone who enjoys Les Savy Fav will also find a great deal of entertainment in Elevado's live show.
[CD available at www.elevado.com]
© 2004 - Jeremy Barker