| Artist |
| Erotic Elk |
| Title |
| Design With Circuitry |
| Format/Cat |
| CD |
| Label |
| Major Records |
| Style |
| Synthpop |
| Date of review |
| 6th February 2011 |
| Reviewer |
| Carl Jenkinson |
| Rating |
| 7/10 |
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And the award for the worse-named band of 2010 goes to.....this lot! I mean, Erotic Elk? Pur-lease, they're not going to do themselves any favours with a name like that which is a shame as there's some potential in this trio's synthpop sound that could appeal to fans of Iris or Mesh. That's not to say they really reach anything like the same heights but the promise is their & the manner in which the opening 'New Hope' builds into its exciting chorus proves their compositional skills are well up to standard; it's certainly a good way to kick off proceedings while the vocals remind me of The Charlatans' Tim Burgess, strangely enough. This is a similarity that pops up on some tracks, most notably the atmospheric offering that is 'Suffer In Silence' & the lively albeit slightly reflective version of Tears For Fears' 'Memories Fade' while elsewhere they're more of the standard European melodic style that, whilst being pleasant & not without appeal, doesn't quite have anything that makes them really stand out although there's no doubt that they work well enough on tracks such as the solidly rhythmic 'Syrinx', the stronger 'Change' which is sure to have a widespread appeal & the excellent 'Released (From Chains)' which, with its immediately memorable main hook, is a fine piece by anyone's standards. It's certainly a modern-sounding affair with the punchy rhythms of 'Reality' being the only reminder of the 80s & this is soon offset by the soaring strings that give the song a real lift while the cheerful lighter mood of 'Room Of Hearts' provides something of a lift from the rather earnest feel of the rest of the album. So, although this isn't a great album it's an enjoyable one & a promising debut to boot so if you can find room in your heart for another synthpop band then this could well fit the bill as long as you don't let that name put you off!!
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