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Pop music: an expression of the current consciousness of what’s happening. An onomatopoetic description for sure, a boom, a bang that jolts and shakes things around, it can shift and change into many forms, its chameleon nature becomes seductive. Phil Spector called the stuff he did "little symphonies", encapsulated stories about life that has just as much resonance as the high brow classical form he borrowed from. Pop music is the sound of the actual, all the little details of how we live our lives, the soundtrack to our reality.
Elemeno P make pop music that bangs, guitar power pop with big choruses that is an invitation to a party next to a pool with lots of girlies, where the summer is endless and school or work is but a distant memory. Choice.
Dave Gibson (vocalist/songwriter) describes the band as "We’re just happy people" and Dave is indeed a person full of the jollification that life can bring. But don’t let that cloud your perspective, he has a solid background in musical performance. Playing in a variety of acts: Queen City Big Band, hardcore band Nickel and in 1998 toured Eastern Europe in a band called Elephant, where he broke his back, the fun has to stop sometimes. He’s also somewhat of a of a media veteran, having appeared in numerous commercials and featuring in the film 'The Locals' and also a stint as a radio DJ. Surprisingly finding time to complete a commerce degree, he’s a man who knows what to do and how to do it.
His Glenfield homeboy, Justyn Pilbrow (guitar/songwriter) provides the raunchy riffs that slice like one of Chef Tony’s multi-tasking knives, learnt by a studious listen to Metallica as a youth. They first collaborated on something called 'My Rhymes are like Butter' a "piss take" of sorts. But this shows an appreciation of all music, Dave loves his funky stuff (he started of as a drummer) and Justyn not only makes music for TVNZ shows, but is the bass player for jazzy bohemians Relaxomatic Project.
Variety in abundance.
The duo produced a demo then pitched it around the way, this was before there was any band, so what was important were the actual songs, it was those "little symphonies" that sold them, not any prefabricated image, just the inherent quality of their pop creations. As Dave told me over a few beers "…it all comes down to the songs, the other bits can be frustrating at the best of times". Lucky for them that getting a band together, finding the right people and all that, was made easier with the addition of big Scotty Pearson on Drums and Ms Lani Perkis on bass.
Scotty doesn’t come from Glenfield but from the hinterland, a “Naki” boy who plays in a large and in charge style laying down the “4-4’s” with gusto. Once again he has a solid musical background having played in many a band and spent over a year in the States playing with the hard touring Hoi Polloi, this is what we call "paying dues".
Lani joined early 2002 and gives the boys a true rocking and driving edge. A West Auckland homegirl who also provides the bass boom in the all female band Foamy Ed. When the rest of the band start talking about her it turns into rampant praise "she’s got an x factor", "she made us all step up to the mark when it comes to rock… she changed our worlds", they like her.
When they started to play live (first gig was support for Sum 41) they tore it up, anyone who has seen them in the live realm would be impressed. Playing out is the sine quo non of rockn’roll, it’s where it all comes together and by now they are a finely honed rockn’roll killing machine. But making records is always the end of the process; it just makes it all more accessible, it makes things solid and tangible. There has been four singles and now the debut album, the aptly named 'Love and Disrespect'.
Bit of a gem really, working the pop paradigm of guitar power chords bass throb, drum beats and melodic vocals to perfection. The added textures of organ and even a bit of Electro-clash (the intro to 'Weed Out') add variety. They had it mastered in New York with legend Howie Weinberg behind the desk ("it looked like the Tardis and nobody except Howie knew how to work it") and its got that big sound that pop has always reached for. Heaps of vitality that jumps out of the speakers and whacks like a baseball bat.
Sounds great but it is the songs that matter, take the anthemic 'Fast Times in Tahoe' with that line "they say that absence makes the heart grow fonder/ But I doubt it I really doubt it/ playing ping pong over oceans/ messing with emotions messing with my head". That’s good stuff, a travel song about separation, where the geography is indicative of a state of mind. Pop music is anything but dumb, beneath the seemingly simplistic ‘”fun” is a darker sense. Dave and Justyn conclude that the album is about “girls and geography” and they are following some of rockn’roll’s greatest aviators, Chuck Berry for example, in this conceptual manner.
The singles indicated pop talent, 'Verona' is Ramones like in the way it drops cultural references and uses them as a backdrop to the eternal quest of boy wanting girl and 'Nirvana' is about Dave’s childhood and the golden glow that music can give you. But there are many good tunes here, the wistful 'Goodbye', romantic urges of 'Fight for You' and the difficulties of drugs before (or is it because of?) feminine company in 'Weed Out'.
Band Members:
Dave Gibson (vocals)
Scotty Pearson (drums)
Lani Purkis (bass)
Justyn Pilbrow (guitar)
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