A heart-on-sleeve
concept album about girl troubles that plays like a Motown album with
drum machines, Hills Like Elephants' The Endless Charade
features the
crooning of Sean Davenport, drums from Matt Lynott [The White Buffalo]
and production from Christopher Hoffe at Chaos Recorders in
Escondido. Making use of vintage drum machines, Moog plug-ins, an
old school pump organ, and an 80s
synthesizer that was recorded
with fans blowing to cool it down, give a listen to The Endless Charade.
Bourbon-based modern
Motown bluesman Sean Davenport is no stranger to aborted romance. The
Bonita born pianist spent the better part of his young adulthood
stumbling from Boston to New York to L.A. and back to San Diego,
tripping over women who kicked him when he was down and leaving behind
a trail of soul-heavy lost love epitaphs via ex-bands Abigail Warchild
(NY) and Gun Runner (SD).
Raised a bottle-toss away from Tom Waits' old turf, the candid crooner
finds solace in a place where heartbroken vocals, Pavement guitars, and
driving drum machines meet. In a curious exploration to see what would
happen if soul had a synth and if synth had a soul, Sean tries to
answer some his own musical questions. What would happen if The Pixies
hung out with Al Green or if Jay Mascis did an album with Marvin Gaye.
Noise meets blues, blues meets ambient, ambient meets that beat that
makes your head bob. Animal collective meets Otis Redding’s daughter
gives birth to a child that listens to psychedelic/dance/indie old and
new wave (The War on Dugs, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Vile, the Soft Machine,
Tame Impala, Candi Staton, LCD Soundsystem, and James Booker) a
culmination of everything inspiring thus far and convincing Davenport
to forge ahead with another musical endeavor.
In these sounds that sum up Hills Like Elephants, Davenport has found
the embrace he’s longed for, the companionship he’s dreamed of and the
love of his life-his music and his own sonic romance.
Backed by vintage-prone engineer Chris Hoffee (The Truckee Brothers
Atom Orr, The Make Up Sex, Mystery Lights, Fivecrown), Hills Like
Elephants looks back on love with surly lament, reminding us that
“perspective isn’t something you’re supposed to see, it’s a concept
you’re supposed to understand.” And often, two in the throes of the
“intriguing dilemma” are bound never to see it the same.
Hills Like Elephants
debut LP The Endless Charade is available everwhere today on
Requiemme Records/BMG Chrysalis.
Hell Needs Calvary
Intriguing Dilemma
Background
Invisible Ink
Perfect Enemy (Sushi
Dinners)
Even
Inebriated
Afterthoughts
Bad Bluff
Temporary Temperaments
Common Theme
.