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Hi Sorry State fam! Hope everyone is doing well and had a great weekend! I had a blast finally getting out of the house to see some good old local hardcore on Saturday night. Scarecrow played with a couple of bands I had never seen before called Hell is Here and Cyprian. Both were more of the metal persuasion. Always fun to see something new. And Scarecrow kicked ass of course. Their chemistry is unmatched, and they keep just getting better. I think the show officially pulled me out of my social funk and I’m ready to do it again!
So I’ve been revisiting parts of my record collection that have been gathering some dust. You know, those albums that you throw on and remember how great they are, and wonder why the hell you haven’t listened to them in so long. I have a lot of those. And one of them is Elastica’s self-titled debut. I remember how stoked I was to find this record locally. Nothing beats the feeling of coming across a record that you don’t expect to see, haven’t thought about in a long time, and need to buy right then and there. And even better when it’s a really great looking first pressing with the limited edition catalogue (i.e. the Elasticatalogue). Such a great extra. It introduces you to the band, gives some background, shows some merch, and dedicates a page or two to each band member. Flipping through it for the first time in a long time reminded me how much I loved Justine. Who didn’t love Justine? I love booklets like this because it’s so much fun reading about a band while listening to their record. The ultimate record nerd experience.
This album was released in 1995 and is the only album to feature the original line-up, and guitarist Donna Matthews! Elastica sort of exploded with the 90s Britpop scene with the song Connection, but I always thought they were so much cooler than the rest. Effortlessly cooler. Perhaps because they had cooler musical influences like Wire, who they would coincidentally rip a guitar riff or two from. Oopsie. But I mean, if you’re gonna rip a riff, let it be Wire’s riff. I still think the record is ridiculously underrated and under-talked about in the grand scheme of things. At the time, their sound was like a combination of old new wave and the new new wave. Elastica sounded refreshingly different, putting their own attitude in the music,. The record rocks and is consistently melodic the whole way through. One of those no skips kind of records.
This record takes you on a really fun and fast ride and then sort of throws you out of the car while it’s still moving. Leaving you wanting more. The ultimate measure of a great record. The kind of record that you need to play two or three times in a row to get your fill. Like I said, every track is a banger, but my favorites are Smile, Connection, Car Song, Stutter, and Vaseline. So go grab one of those amazing records in your collection that you haven’t played in a few years, and have one of those “why don’t I play this more?” moments.
Well, I’m gonna call it here. Thanks so much for reading! Have a great week! Until next time!
-Angela