Elf Power

After working with Dave Fridmann on their last two (and best) albums, Athens, GA's Elf Power opted to try something different, and Creatures is unlike any Elf Power record to date. The production is a lot cleaner for one thing; gone is the patented lo-fi effect they sought in the past and in its place is a slicker, friendlier quality. The sound of the band has also changed as well. The distorted guitars are still used often enough, as are the traces of psychedelia, but just from the opening track it's easy to see how different it really is. "Let The Serpent Sleep" starts the album with a Velvet Underground riff that turns the song into a Galaxie 500 tune on speed (but still remains quite mellow). "Everlasting Scream," with its Ramones-esque pace, and "Things That Should Not Be," a Boo Radleys clone, stand out as the most fetching songs on the record. Overall, Creatures is Elf Power's most accessible record to date, but lacks the charm their earlier work had, which made them one of the better Elephant 6 bands.