The story behind Cage the Elephant is pretty textbook. Two Kentucky brothers are raised on a Christian commune by a parents who were former hippies turned “Jesus freaks” after finding God on acid. Rock music other than Petra and the like is banned, but they still find a way to listen to Jimi Hendrix and Pearl Jam on the sly — until their folks get divorced and the great wall of musical oppression comes tumbling down. All at once the brothers discover and have their impressionable minds blown by the Who, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana and Bob Dylan, whereupon they grab three friends, knock out a record in 10 days, develop a reputation for no-holds-barred, hedonistic live shows and become an overnight success story … in the U.K. OK, so maybe it’s not the same-old, same-old — and who knows how much of it is true? All you really need to know is, these Kentucky kids really have taken England by storm, and their self-titled debut — released last year in the U.K. but only available domestically (via download) as of this spring — is a raging blast of ’60s-style blues rock and garage punk that sounds a lot like Eric Burdon and the Animals having a rumble with Iggy and the Stooges.
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