Cage The Elephant - 'Ain't No Rest For The Wicked'
Houston, we have a problem...or at least we might have, I'm not sure yet. The thing is, I see a name like 'Cage The Elephant' and immediately alarm bells start going off because my inner ´óÏó´«Ã½ Standards Man is worried that the actual expression "cage the elephant" could secretly mean something disgusting. Especially when you consider an elephant's trunk, those big flappy ears, great big wobbly bum...all of these things could be the basis of some innuendo or other, and it's probably something vile. I don't know what it could be, I may be looking for rude things where there are no rude things, which probably makes me look like a perv, but it's much worse to blithely talk about Cage The Elephant as if you don't know what it really means, because then the people who DO know what it means have won. Forever.
It's a shame too, cos I was all ready wax lyrical about the down-home charms of the band, and how their singer has a very attractive tumbledown delivery - you could almost call it 'flow', if that word didn't make every self-conscious British white boy like myself curl up in total embarrassment in case anyone thought they were trying to be 'street' (a word which carries a similar problem, truth be told).
I was going to point out that mixing blues guitar with funky beats and Beck-style rap-ranting is a very early '90s thing to do, but that a revival is no bad thing, especially as this song is so summery it positively reeks of sweaty sandals and factor 30. That's assuming you view the world through nose-tinted spectacles, obv...
But no, I'm stuck with this blessed name and the possible connotations of saying it out loud. Which bit do you spose is the rude part? The elephant or the cage? Or is the filth hidden within the caging of the elephant? I know that parking the tiger means being sick, and spanking the monkey is...erm...something I can't go into here, but what are you doing if you cage the elephant?
God, I bet it's something horrific. I'm sorry I ever mentioned it. Move along now people, nothing to see here...
Download: Out now
CD Released: June 16th
(Fraser McAlpine)
Comment number 1.
At 14th Jun 2008, XxlivsxX wrote:I really like this song. When I first heard it I thought "finally, something a bit different". I'm so fed up of all new bands either being crappy emo wannabes or ...... well....crappy indie wannabes. It's like a breath of fresh air and like you said, perfect for summer.
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Comment number 2.
At 17th Jun 2008, Jafomisa wrote:I luv their band name. :)) Every1's getting lots of different band names.
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Comment number 3.
At 17th Jun 2008, -RachelS- wrote:I like this too.
I'm not sure about caging the elephant, but 'nose-tinted spectacles' sound a bit...yucky!
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