Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Elephants and Stars, Excommunication Music 2020.
Elephants and Stars is an indie-rock trio with members from Toronto and Hamilton in Canada and Recovery is their debut release.
They have a nice bright sound with chiming guitars over a solid rock beat.
Their interesting band name came from a book called The Moral Arc by Michael Shermer which puts forward the theory that science more than anything else leads mankind to a more moral existence as he develops an understanding of his place in the universe.
In explaining that the universe is divided between what can be seen and what can’t be seen he used the example that people can see elephants and stars.
A band member presented it as a temporary band name and it stuck.
There are a number of styles that I can detect in Elephants and Stars sound, initially Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and also The Lemonheads, and it was interesting to read that both The Lemonheads and Teenage Fanclub were big influences.
It’s a sound that blends genres but there’s an underlying basis of country rock beneath the indie-rock exterior.
Lead singer/guitarist Manfred Sittmann Is the main songwriter but all band members contribute to the final product.
Sittmann tries to present the songs to the band in the most skeletal shape possible so that everyone else can bring their own individuality to them.
It’s a process that he’s learnt over time.
He acknowledges that he’s probably been guilty of being a little dictatorial in the past but when everyone feels a part of the song they have ownership.
This approach means that occasionally an idea develops that takes the song in an unintended direction.
These are the hidden gems that develop from true collaboration.
The band has just added a keyboardist so their sound will expand but the collaborative approach will remain.
