★★★★★
"We're five people fighting for our own ideologies of good music," said Cage The Elephant's drummer Jared Champion last year. "We clash stylistically, and sometimes even personally." There's a moment near the end of album opener 'Spiderhead' where the beauty of this conflict becomes crashingly and satisfyingly apparent. And the rest of 'Melophobia', the Kentucky band's third album, follows the same mantra: that conflict is beautiful...
- www.clashmusic.com
2014-02-06
★★★★★
Kentucky's Cage The Elephant have named their latest album after the fear of music. Seeing as most people that know that won't be able to listen to it, it is somewhat irrelevant but interesting nonetheless. Why be afraid? Melophobia is another collection of dirty, bluesy rock 'n' roll. As single "Come a Little Closer" showed, Cage The Elephant have moved even further into the camp of bands like The Black Keys and The Kills (Alison Mosshart guests on one track), making broody, earnest rock music...
- www.undertheradarmag.com
2013-12-14
★★★★★
Kentucky fried rock band Cage the Elephant quickly became a household name a few years ago with their single "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked." A mish-mash of blues, hip-hop, and alternative rock, the track was a cool slice of pulp fiction decorated with a catchy-as-hell chorus. Unfortunately, nothing on their third outing, Melophobia (which means "fear of music"), comes close to matching their previous glory...
- www.popmatters.com
2013-11-12
★★★★★
What do 'Losing My Religion', 'Twist and Shout', 'Mr Brightside', and a million other hits have in common? Undeniable, irresistible choruses - a great chorus is the essence of great pop. Catchy doesn't guarantee quality (see: 'Moves Like Jagger') and there's no need for perfect songs to be chorus-led or even hummable (see also: Kid A). But we can all agree that a sky-high chorus, inclosing a hook big enough for all the gods to hang their coats on, works wonders. Cage the Elephant don't think so...
- drownedinsound.com
2013-10-22
★★★★★
Following Cage the Elephant's 2008 self-titled debut, and their second album, Thank You, Happy Birthday; this Kentucky-based five piece has reached new heights with Melophobia. The opening track, "Spiderhead," is both bluesy and upbeat, a paranoid clap-happy song. the chorus chants. The first single, "Come a Little Closer," slows the tempo, and Melophobia is the fear of music, and perhaps that speaks to the haunting loneliness that underlies many of these tracks, but there's nothing to fear...
- tangiblesounds.com
2013-10-13
★★★★★
"Every time we make an album, it's a war with ourselves," Matthew Shultz told Consequence of Sound earlier this year. At the helm of Cage the Elephant , he's held tight to his post as one of mainstream rock's more endearing voices. His warm rasp bounces around in the triangle bounded by Isaac Brock, Conor Oberst, and Black Francis...
- consequenceofsound.net
2013-10-11
★★★★★
Kentucky's Cage the Elephant warp Sixties garage rock, Seventies punk and Eighties alt-rock into excellently weird new shapes - like the way a Beatles reference bumps up against chaotic horns and deranged Pixies crooning on "Hypocrite." As with the band's two previous LPs, Melophobia rides crackling melodies and a visceral tumult that's the perfect backing for Matt Shultz's paranoid lyrics: "I think your mother wants me dead," he sings against static-cling riffs on "Spiderhead...
- www.rollingstone.com
2013-10-08
★★★★★
Bowling Green, Ky. isn't the place one expects to find the hot pink center of a post-modern glam revival, but that's where Cage The Elephant--whose Melophobia is a glitter-flecked triumph of banging power pop--calls home. Propulsive choruses, a musical cacophony that whirls and a melodic sense that secedes nothing to the rhythms, the scrappy quintet's third album is a focused, frenzied affair.
With six slamming chords, "Spiderhead" opens Melophobia with a throb and wash of fuzz-tone guitar...
- www.pastemagazine.com
2013-10-09
★★★★★
All Reviews Cage The Elephant - Melophobia October 8, 2013 by Jason Schreurs Released:October 08, 2013 - RCA AP Rating: There's a lot happening on Melophobia, the third album by Kentucky rock band Cage The Elephant. The five members spent time separately concocting their own ideas for the album after a lengthy period of time together on the road. The resulting album is, at its best, ambitious and teeming with ideas and, at worst, one heck of a mish-mash of sounds...
- www.altpress.com
2013-10-10
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