Lunatics and Poets - A CD Review
By Jake
Venice, USA - Great beginning track and kicks the CD off with a bang. The organ sounds nice and crisp, and I love the overall rhythm of the song.
Night Butterfly - Could do without the "hey hey" bit in the beginning. It's an alright
song, doesn't serve my fancy, but the guitar solo kicks all kinds of ass.
Love Rocket - I really like this one. Sounds like a bar tune, piano and all. I laughed
out loud with the whole "until we sound like Pink Floyd" bit. Very witty, and a great
beat overall, especially with the drums. Nice little piano bit there too.
Winter Reggae - The accordion in the intro is a great touch. I can't help but wonder if
the lyrics are a bit of a tip of the hat to the Who's "Squeezebox." The trumpet on this
one is very good too.
Ticket To Japan - I love the guitar in the intro and after the chorus, it reeks of Dick
Dale and a bit of Link Wray. The chorus has a great kick to it with the horns as backup.
The two guitars playing over the jet engines in the instrumental break rocks, too. I
like the little touches that they add to make their solos not just the standard
rock-guitar fare, but something a little different...
Memoirs of a Phuket Geisha - The lyrics to this one made me laugh my ass off. The song
itself made me think of a Tom Waits song with the mood, vocals, and everything. I
specifically thought of Waits' Rain Dogs album. Hell, even the title made me think of
one of Waits' songs, "Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis". I enjoyed this one,
it's an inventive break from the pure rock vibe.
Juliet - Like the rest of their songs, I love the guitar intro. The vocals (aside from
the chorus) made me think of a country and western song I heard a long time back, I
can't remember the name of it, but the rhythms are pretty similar. I like the line "It's
hard to be a womanizer when no one loves you anymore." Great song.
Tchaikovski - I have to admit, I like the Elvises' take on space-rock with this song.
Great funky beat, wild effects on the vocals as well as different sound effects in
general. The drums could have been a bit heavier, but then again that's just a minor
(and the only) complaint. I like the funk-rock guitar solo too. Impressive
fretwork.
Party Like a Rock Star - This song's okay. I'm not too big on the vocals for some
reason, but the tune's great. The organ complements the slinky guitars very well.
This Music Is Wasted (If We Don't Dance) - I like the Elvises' salsa bit too. I just
like this song in general, and I honestly don't know why. The drum part on the bridge is
great too, along with the guitar break. It's just good, infectious music, and the same can be said for
all of the Elvises’ tunes.
Overall, it's an excellent CD. I was very impressed by the variety of sounds on this
release. There were no tracks that seemed like filler, and that's a rarity with many
bands nowadays. All of the songs were great in their own right, and Lunatics and Poets
makes for a very entertaining and fantastic listen for veteran Elvises fans as well as
newcomers. Two thumbs up, guys.
Kayt’s note: Jake is a brand new fan, from Texas, now living in Southern California. When I talked about Red Elvises at work, my co-worker, who is not only the girlfriend of Jake but also happens to have the same name as the town in the Ukraine where Igor is from, said that her boyfriend had heard of them before. When he heard the mp3s he was moved to write a review, so I said go for it! Let’s all extend him a big Red welcome. Great way to start off, Jake!
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