Element 101
More Than Motion
Tooth & Nail
This is good. For those of you unfamiliar with Element 101, they play (at least here) dirty sounding indie rock, with overdriven guitars, female singing, and an ’80s flair for song structure.
More Than Motion sounds like what Pat Benatar would have sounded like, were her career to have begun today, rather then back in the late ’70s. Element 101 chanteuse Chrissie comes off like a pop star in the waiting, her gruff yet beautiful voice being comprised of equal parts Joan Jett, Pat Benatar, and Courtney Love.
The mood of the album is strange and subdued; what should be sounding like an upbeat rocker, actually comes off sounding a bit depressed and worn out. For me, worn our and depressed is good, especially when it comes to rock music like this. More Than Motion, the mood of it, reminds me of The Cardigans’ Gran Turismo, which was a masterwork of grand stature! Fans of early Karate will probably enjoy this, as well, as the guitar sound on this album is similar to the sound on Karate’s first record (the one with the airplane on it).
Tooth & Nail Records: http://www.toothandnail.com
