Elbow "Build A Rocket Boys!"

This band has earned the right to be purchased without sampling, so when this record was released in March, it went straight to the cart.  So excited to hear new music after three years, but the previous album, "The Seldom Scene Kid", was going to be a tough act to follow.  Double platinum in the UK, it spawned a live rendition on the BBC which also stayed charted for some time.  This award, that award, top Single, yada yada yada.  So imagine my surprise when upon the initial spin, the notation I made for this post was "Turd."  I almost dreaded it coming back up in the rotation.  But as I've noted before, I give these things three spins minimum before posting anything.  And "Build A Rocket Boys!" is a perfect example why I do so.  This gets better and better with each spin, its tentacles reaching slowly into your brain one track at a time.  I've just finished the fourth spin and I'm unsure if I'll remove it from the changer just yet.  

For those of you who are not privy to the genius of Elbow, some background.  Though together for essentially twenty years, they've only been Elbow since 1997, releasing several EP's which were well accepted in Britain, with their first full-length album coming in 2001.  I recall that CD in my store, but I never heard it.  It was "Cast of Thousands" three years later that did it for me, and I've been a fan since.  The band has said there would be no Elbow if there wasn't Radiohead, and similarities abound, but without the pretentiousness.  They have toured with Coldplay, but they are nowhere near as bombastic.  For those of you who have discovered Snow Patrol, Elbow is more complicated.  The main stated influence is Peter Gabriel-era Genesis.  There is more than just a hint of Classical influence in the music, mainly in the use of volume dynamics, you know, soft passages, repetitive instrumentation, then the sporadic "power chord" followed by a pretty run of notes.  Let me give you an example, though this song doesn't have the power stroke.  This is the track from which the record is titled.  This performance was only last week.  They were here in the US for the Coachella festival about a month ago, and apparently, people were singing along.  Much like the feeling I got at last year's Bonnaroo when I caught the Mumford & Sons set, and boy, have they caught fire here or what!?  There is an Elbow fan base here, but so far there is no tour scheduled.  Maybe that will be what it takes, though Hollywood is already a fan, as Elbow tunes have shown up in movies and other entertainment vehicles.          

"...Rocket..." debuted at #2 in the UK and has had a modicum of chart success here.  Do yourself a favor if you're a fan of any of the aforementioned bands and give Elbow a listen...at least three times.