Blind Texas Marlin

I don't know what it is, but something tells me an album has to be good if it has an elephant on the cover, and Blind Texas Marlin lives up to the hype with their LP Nothing Unlike Elephants. With a sound that is Mumford Sons meets the Pogues meets Neil Young, with a little Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash thrown in, this album is a mix of folk, country, bluegrass and Indie movie soundtrack (think Juno). The music is acoustic, melodic and soulful and definitely worth a listen. But it is really the creative lyrics that make the album stand out. Witty, snarky and darkly humorous, their songs are so random and cleverly odd; they feel a little like an episode of "An Evening at the Improv" set to music. Blind Texas Marlin sings such things as, "I built this suit of armor out of macaroni and cheese," and, "Well I don't know Satan but he sleeps at my house. And he laughs about my ceiling fan…" The sounds of banjo, harmonica, fiddle and trombone accompany stories of "this camouflaged donkey and his outlawed bowl of soup," and other random, stream-of-consciousness gems. Their music is well-executed, but so casual and down-to-earth, it feels more like a jam session than a performance, and more living room than recording studio. In fact, I can't help but imagine all the guys in the band sitting around the campfire playing tunes for the sheer love of playing…while roasting marshmallows and making s'mores, (which, by the way, would make for a sticky guitar). They don't take themselves too seriously, which means music without pretention but with a whole lot of wit and spunk. Check it out-- for the music, for the quirky lyrics, for the elephants.