Cage the Elephant: Thank You Happy Birthday [JIVE]

Why you'll love it

This Jive LP is the original 2011 vinyl edition of the album. It debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and reached No. 7 in Canada, and "Shake Me Down" went to No. 1 on Billboard's Rock Songs chart.

About the album

Cage the Elephant wrote more than eighty songs for their second album, decided none of them felt right, and started again from scratch. Back with producer Jay Joyce, the Kentucky band went for songs that each sounded like they'd been written by a different group. The album had been announced in 2009 as Computer Says Move; the songs that made it came from ideas they'd been saving for side projects.

Matt Shultz yelps and snarls, his brother Brad cites influences from Santo & Johnny to the Coasters, and the album lurches from scrappy punk to sweet, swaying pop. "Always Something" stalks in, "Indy Kidz" and "Sabertooth Tiger" thrash, "Rubber Ball" and "Flow" bring things down gently, and "2024" crackles with nervous energy. The lyrics take aim at selling out, materialism and fame, most pointedly on "Sell Yourself."

Clouds of backward guitar swirl through the record, and "Aberdeen" got a video made entirely in clay animation. On the day it came out it went straight to No. 1 on iTunes, and the band marked the occasion on Letterman that night. As thank-you notes go, it's a good deal louder than the ones we send.

Also at Kops: more Cage the Elephant on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Listen

On Jive (cat# 88697-81421-1SB), the 2011 album.