Elvis Perkins in Dearland
By Nick Manteris · 0 Comments · Leave a Comment
Elvis Perkins in Dearland is the title of the second album from folk rock recording artist Elvis Perkins. This is the first recording with his backing band (also called Elvis Perkins in Dearland) making this a self-titled release. Elvis (who shares a name with a couple other well-known singers) has a very distinctive voice and the Americana style music that he and his band create is lush with instrumentation.
“Shampoo” starts out the album at it’s highest point and contains lines like, “yellow is the color of my true love’s crossbow / yellow is the color of the sun / black is the color of … a strangled rainbow / just the color of my love.” The next few songs fail to impress after the opener, but “Hey” is surprisingly upbeat and its “if it were up to me, I would leave it up to you” is a great lyric. “Send My Fond Regards To Lonelyville” is a step in the right direction, but it’s not until the spectral voices in “I'll Be Arriving” that anything on the album comes close to “Shampoo.” The only other track worth mentioning is filled with unexpected revelry and a positive outlook…even though the “Doomsday” it references has to do with the death of his parents. (His father, the perpetually typecast actor, Anthony Perkins, died from AIDS complications on a Tuesday and his mother was unfortunately killed in the 9/11 attacks, which also happened to be on a Tuesday.)
- Score
- 46%
Elvis Perkins can write a good song and his band is certainly capable, but the offerings here are just too uneven. The opening song sets the bar too high and only one of the following songs even comes close to that mark. The rest of the album only hints at what these musicians are obviously capable of and is ultimately a disappointment.
