Elf Power

In a Cave (Rykodisc)

Elf Power’s ninth LP wears like a pair of jeans. There might be a few splotches, stains, and holes, but the welcome softness more than compensates for aesthetic imperfections. Such is the case with one of the forgotten members of the Athens, Ga.-based Elephant 6 cadre. In a Cave hauls itself into daylight with the fuzzy-creepy “Owl Cut (White Flowers in the Sky),” marked by electronic droning that captivates rather than irritates. The album drags at the midpoint with “Softly Through the Void,” the psychic/sonic equivalent of a 3pm sugar crash at your cubicle, but “Paralyzed” and “Fried Out” offer enough psychedelia-beds-rock jolt to yank one out of the fog. Rhythms are propulsive, Andrew Rieger singing with an earnest detachment that casts a pleasant hue of irony across the proceedings. (Wednesday, March 12, Spiros, 12mid.)

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This article appears in March 7 • 2008.

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