Cage The Elephant Tell Me I'm Pretty (180 Gram Vinyl, Gatefold LP Jacket)

On their fourth album, Tell Me I'm Pretty, Kentucky rock band Cage the Elephant still can't shake their influences. Over the course of Cage the Elephant's career, each step along the way has attracted attention for the sounds they incorporated: Nirvana, Beck, the Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, the White Stripes, Pixies. Now, enter the Black Keys. It's no surprise, given that the head Key, Dan Auerbach, produced the album at his Easy Eye Studio in Nashville. Entwined in their Southern-fried rock sound, Auerbach brings an organic production to Tell Me I'm Pretty, reportedly using first takes and scratch vocals. So while the band's sound has softened somewhat -- there's less rollicking fury and the feral edges have been smoothed (most notably on the plaintive beauty "How Are You True") -- the fresh depth and grit heard here are reminiscent of Arctic Monkeys' evolution once they hooked up with Josh Homme. As with that relationship, the young band's sound naturally takes on the flavor of the prod