What do you get when you bring together Stephen Hunking (ex-Hypnolovewheel) and Chris Xefos (ex-King Missile)? You get something that will give you a jolt of creative energy and get your ears buzzing. That kind of thing is all over E.L.F., the debut full-length from Dew Claw, the band featuring these two guys.
Opener "Escape Velocity" is neo-psychedelic goodness, the Eighties-take-on-the-Sixties again, while "Mouse Trap" is surprisingly tender. The strings do the heavy lifting here, but the juxtaposition of the resignation in the lyrics with the cellos is neatly done and very affecting. Elsewhere, "Wall" soars on a riff that Eighties-era Redd Kross would have killed for, and a vibe not unlike that from Too Much Joy. It's great stuff which takes me back to when alt-rock bands did stuff like this far more often. Far different is the fine "Here Comes the Weekend", a number that owes a debt to NRBQ and Marshall Crenshaw, but which stands on its own as a fine piece of work.
This Dew Claw album is a collection of solid stuff. Fans of any of the bands I've referenced will likely find parts of this very enjoyable indeed. The best stuff here makes a listener long for the music made in that window between New Wave and grunge, when if something got called college rock you knew it would be both smart and tuneful.
E.L.F. by Dew Claw is out now. Details below via Bandcamp.
[Photo: Dew Claw]