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Elevado:
Dedicated to the Memory
I may not be the person best-suited to write a review of Elevado, seeing as how theres a violin player in the band, and seeing as how I have a thing against violins in rock bands, generally speaking. The first few seconds of the opening track start off promising: bell-like synth tones, some dirty guitar, a gentle but steady beat on the drums. Im instantly thinking dark indie rock, maybe Radiohead, maybe Interpol. But then the violin comes in, playing a completely random and abrasively high-pitched riff. Although things improve once the song really gets rolling and the violin becomes just a part of the landscape as opposed to a diversion, every time The Riff reappears, I cant help but cringe. Luckily Elevado puts the violin in its place on track two: its used to add an extra layer of darkness and not as a stand-out solo instrument. With that out of the way, I was able to appreciate Cant Delay quite a bit more than the first song. Elevado has a decidedly British rock sound, even though theyre from Atlanta, Georgia. The second track bears a particular resemblance to very early period U2, from the Edge-like delayed guitar to the Adam Clayton tone of the bass. Vocalist Justin Sias has a pleasing, smooth, dark tenor that lies somewhere between Morrissey and a young, impassioned Bono. But this number still has a major problem, one that the entire album suffers from: incredibly poor production values. Sadly, whoever mixed the album failed to leave space between the various instruments, and everything seems to have been recorded too hot, or in the red. The band often sounds like one giant, too-loud blob, meaning that the songs lack dynamic, and subtleties are easy to miss, especially in Cain Wongs competent guitar playing. The vocals also tend to get buried, and it can be difficult to make out what Justins saying. Still, its not hard to see the potential in Elevado, especially in the songs that make use of simpler structures, such as track four, Miles Away Theres a Storm. When you can actually make out the foundations of the tunes, its clear that the songwriting is sturdy and the band members have some interesting melodic ideas. But because the mix is so muddy, and because the band tends to go into lets overdo it mode by the middle of each song, its hard not to lose your connection to the essence of these numbers. And then theres that pesky violin. Track five is another example of the instrument being used poorly. Although Maryn Vance runs it through effects processors to try and make it sound more rock, whenever its given too much prominence it sounds piercingly out of place. Why so many rock violinists choose to focus on stretching out glass-shattering high notes, Im not sure Ill ever understand. Theres also the problem of the violin sometimes sounding like a hokey country-western fiddle, and images of Dave Matthews Band flash into mind now theres a scary thought. If Elevado can get recorded and mixed properly and can master the use of the violin as an exclusively textural instrument, I think theyd have something to offer fans of dark Brit-pop. But the one-color Dedicated turns out to be more frustrating than satisfying.
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