Acoustic albums are so often the snore of an artist’s back catalogue – for me they are merely self-indulgent reminders of how great tracks were when they were kept electric and as they were originally intended, rather than vaguely tampered with and diluted to an insipid weaker form. Few artists come to life when unplugged, asides from the obvious anomalies: Nirvana’s infamous MTV session, Mando Diao’s tamper with strings and brass and even R.E.M’s Unplugged performance. So often though, they appear to leave mere shadows where fully formed tracks previously stood.

Cage The Elephant, though – love them or hate them – are a band that pride much of their persona on their live performance. Studio albums occasionally warble between the good and the bad, the stand out and the stand down, only for the band to find their firm footing when Matt Shultz and his cohort troop around the stage. The band have managed to grip a dedicated fanbase over the last 15 years or so, one that feels vehemently split between their older fans – in adoration of the band’s debut and their 2011 sophomore LP, Thank You, Happy Birthday – and the newer fanbase who elect Melophobia and Tell Me I’m Pretty as their weapons of choice. Unpeeled though certainly feels as if it’s one for the true Cage The Elephant fan and is unlikely to win them many more supporters.

I feel it’s a unanimous decision in 2017 to agree that 21 tracks is a marathon album to approach as a listener, particularly when there is nothing especially new asides from a few covers thrown in here and there, some of which are worth your listening and some of which are not. The band’s cover of Wreckless Eric’s ‘Whole Wide World’ adds energy and a touch of finesse to the 70s punk number, delicately articulated strings sit where electric guitar previously rattled and Shultz’s vocals tear away from his usual rough-round-the-edges approach to instead steer the track on course with a little more finesse. The surprising cover of Daft Punk and Julian Casablancas’ ‘Instant Crush’ is a miraculous success, painting the track in a completely new light and achieving everything they could wish for with it. The track is moving, making the most of the vast orchestral arrangements at their mercy, whilst adding a touch of Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ to the rhythm section of the track. Unfortunately, the cover of The Stranglers’ ‘Golden Brown’ fails to find the same intrigue or buoyancy though, instead it saunters into the misty patch of the album standing as a relatively well executed cover rather than Cage adding anything new to the track.

When the band turn to their own tracks, they once again excavate mixed results; where they succeed best is when they capture the vital component to their sound – the band’s energy – and add shades of something new. See the likes of ‘Aberdeen’, replacing the electric guitar segments with perilous strings, a tactic employed once more on ‘Cold Cold Cold’, using huge arrangements to collide with their natural zeal leading for a volatile catalyst. ‘Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked’ maintains its explosive personality despite not transforming too much beyond stripping back the middle eight to fit the Unpeeled version, ‘Punchin’ Bag’ too is laced with the same traces of gunpowder that put crowds into raptures at live shows.

Similarly, as the band use orchestral arrangements to bolster their occasional turbulence, they use the same thing to gouge at their heart-rending tracks, ‘Trouble’ cuts extra tenderness around Shultz’s voice without ever becoming overly ardent, ‘Too Late To Say Goodbye’ swings in with its 007 string section and ‘Right Before My Eyes’ is a trembling ending to the album. Unfortunately it feels as if seemingly obvious tricks are missed elsewhere on the album though. ’Cigarette Daydreams’ feels worthy of a similar updating to that of ‘Right Before My Eyes’ which it doesn’t get and ‘Rubber Ball’ too exudes nothing particularly different from its appearance on Thank You, Happy Birthday.

Cage The Elephant, when stripped back, provide an album of mixed results. At times receding previous recordings to their mere blueprints before launching into unblemished and imaginative new cuts but, unfortunately, at other points sit acoustic takes that are likely to appeal to only their most loyal of fans. It’s not going to sit at the top of Cage The Elephant’s musical cannon, but it’s a pleasant listen – not much more – but, given the energy they still manage to tie in, slightly rewarding.

Tom Churchill

Website: cagetheelephant.com
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