| Reviews |
| *Unrelated comment 14* |
| Media Assassin May-Jun 04 SUSAN/STRUCTURAL DAMAGE AT NO.53/VESTIBULE 4 out of 5 Shocked Elevator Family are the sound of trying to explain to your dear Nan that it's Tuesday and that Mavis died in 1991. Deranged and faintly depressing, there is no denying your unconditional love. Susan is one of the best songs to be recorded badly ever. There is such a wonderous charm in the way that this song meanders through The Byrds, Roxy Music, Simon and Garfunkel and a thousand other American lo-fi bands you've never heard of. The sweetly deranged refrain of, "Susan is losing her mind" makes dementia momentarilly appealing. Jack White is going to be after these boys when he hears Vestibule, he's going to chase them with dogs until he catches one of them and threatens to rip out their voice box unless they tell him how they got the perfect Robert Johnson sound as if it was recorded in 1927 Mississippi. And somewhere really low in the mix I swear you can hear John Peel cueing up the wrong record at the wrong speed trying to play this song. I don't understand this review but they like the songs (i think). I just dont get it. The Songs were recorded when i was just about to turn 15 but we sent it to them Only a few months ago.-BRYN Media Assassin Feb-Mar 04 SHOCKED ELEVATOR FAMILY/YELLOBELLY/WHITE DWARF SEF are by far one of the most relaxed bands around at the minute, Shocked Elevator Family could teach many a too-cool-for-school, mulleted band how to counduct themselves on stage. SEF will no doubt be accused a billion times of not taking it seriously enough; inviting friends in the crowd up on stage to sing with them and performing stripped down versions of Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA, where the audience are actively encouraged to clap to the beat, arms aloft like they were at Wembly. But who cares how many humourless "Real Music" fans are annoyed by there manner? Ask yourself this; how many bands have you seen lately where at the end of the set the singer ask the audience to body-check him like an American Football player? You know i hope if Springsteen had been there he wouldn't have been offended. It wasnt a joke i just like the Boss' music. Oh and we made freinds with White Dwarf at this show.-BRYN |
| The Plastic Ashtray May '05 EURO COURT/STRUCTURAL DAMAGE AT No.53/BLOOD ASS/SUSAN/BEERs & WEIRS So here we are. Bang, right in your face. Bull out of a gate. Shocked Elevator Family take all the wacky musings of Pavement, early Modest Mouse and the full on stomp of Superchunk which brings me nicely to 'Euro Court' which reminds me a lot of Superchunk in their prime. Galloping drums, punky edged guitars (but not punk right!) slows down with guitar noodlings and loads of choppy guitar chords. The presentation is almost sloppy (not a criticism, as remember when Steve Malkmus realised he was a guitar god, and what happened to Pavement) giving the songs an instant lo-fi charm and credibility. 'Structural Damage at No.53' even touches on the ferocity of The Pixies at times, including a lovely solo at the end that ends like an early Beatles masterpiece. Being both short and sweet 'Structural..." is beautiful pop. The wonderfully titled 'Blood Ass' and line "please don't spread your legs honey!" (hope i didnt mishear that), underline their world of their own mentality. Think early Weezer, think we dont really care, we do our own thing (only less introspective). Fans of long gone and missed Mo*ho*bi*sho*pi will love what we have here. We do have IK+ now out of the ashes of the mohos, but the spirit lay with the lo-fi sound, which is what Shocked Elevator Family serve up just nicely. If you hear a pleasant noise in your neighbours garage, make sure you drop by, it could be a great discovery. This is the first published review we've got of this cd, and it's cool that it's positive again. All this talk of 'lo-fi' makes me think we need to find better places to record - RALPH |
| 'Hearing Aid' Webzine Review October 07 S.E.F@THE RAINBOW DIGBETH, OCTOBER 19TH 2007 Dang it ! These really are turning out to be cracking nights. Kamikazee! once more plucked out some of the best local (and further afield) bands starting with Shocked Elevator Family. They've been around since 2001 but somehow they've avoided me. Wise chaps. I have to say that I rather warmed to them. They're messy but in a really good way. Lead Elevator Bryn (I think) comes off like a cross between Capatin Beefheard, Lloyd Cole and Edwyn Collins and the music has all kinds of weird signatures stop/start slow /fast that kind of stuff. Listen to Wet Ender (live) for a good slice of SEF pie |
| Greg Haines for the 'Tropical Hotdog' site - February '08 S.E.F@TROPICAL HOTDOG (ISLAND BAR) DECEMBER 7TH 2007 Due to Wave Machines' last minute cancellation, the only band left to review would be Shocked Elevator Family. I could go on forever about this band so it's just as well. SEF have basically been going as long as SCC and have, shall we say, 'appreciated each other' for most of that time. It's a mutual musical love affair. But i won't let that hinder my judgement of them - tonight's performance was far from perfect - guitars were out of tune, the occasional drumbeat was off, blah de-blah de blah. This is only the second gig I think they have done after a year long hiatus (singer Bryn had been studying in Norway) and already I can't wait to see how things might go from here. Half the setlist was new (to the public) and the sound, as if my magic, was perfect for their subtle brand of early Modest Mouse-type Lo-fi math-pop. Bryn's trademark growling kindasort rapping vocals against a backdrop of frail melodies and rhythm is still one of my favourite sounds in the world. Lyrically and in terms of structure, Bryn seems to write on a different planet from the rest of us. His verses are full of irony and comedy, yet as if to be hinting at something more serious. From the older songs you'll catch random phrases like '"You had me like a meat supreme'"in 'Euro Court', and then something along the lines of "Please don't spread your legs Honey!" in 'Blood Ass' - phrases that don't seem to relate to one another yet make perfect sense as a whole. He claims to be influenced by hip-hop but if he is he must be so white that he's gone all the way past being white to being black again or something. Ralph's guitars and David's bass lines are so un-together that they go perfectly together resulting in these addictive melodies that poke out at you like annoyingly familiar songs that you've never actually heard before. A lot of this new material supposedly forms a new concept record they are working on about a cartoon married couple going though a divorce. If i wasn't already in a band myself I swear I would go managerial on their ass and put my life and money into getting this band the recognition they deserve, a record deal and some chromatic guitar tuners. Some one sort it out! |