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Album Review

Box Elders
Alice & Friends Goner Records

Article written by Ged M - Jan 4, 2010

Box Elders: Alice and Friends

Brevity is the soul of good rock and roll for these sons of Nebraska; just blaze away with your pop-punk and, as soon as you’re out of ammo, reload another tune. Thirteen of the tracks on Alice & Friends last between 1’23” and 2’27”, with only the closer, ‘Death of Me’, breaking the pattern at an epic 4’30”. And that short format perfectly suits their fuzzy pop. It's long enough to be impressed by the bubblegum blast of ‘Stay’ and the bubbling keyboards on ‘Jackie Wood’ but not too long that you hear the same idea repeated, while the best track, the sloppily lo-fi but brilliantly direct ‘Hole In My Head’ slays all with a killer doomy guitar riff in just 1’39”. Similarly, their warnings of the coming apocalypse (‘2012’) and predatory older ladies (‘Cougars’) work best as little haikus of stiletto-sharp indiepop, trimmed of all excess. It might not be all there is to music but Box Elders are one of the best of the woozy-pop US bands that are relieving the flatulent tension of what passes for alternative rock these days with the administration of a simple rock’n’roll enema.

Links:
http://boxelders.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/boxelders

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