What? Don’t you know? Tut. ELVISS is an acronym for Enhanced Low-light-level Visible and Infra-red Surveillance System. Der! Obvious! Der!
This punchy four piece are also signed to Columbia in Japan of all places and with two Alan Moulder produced singles, a Jo Wiley Record of the Week and Radio One and XFM sessions under their pugilistic belt they may well hit deserved pay-dirt in 2005. Their sound is the kind of heavy, scuzzy and dirty rock ‘n’ roll that should appeal to those of the metal fraternity who moonlight as indie rock ‘n’ rollers as well as grunge/punk and power-pop aficionados salivating for something heavier.
On the title track ‘Not Enough’ Karl Sunderland’s voice captures some of Perry Farrell’s shrillness but the backing music is an aggressively sexy hybrid of punk, rock and metal, the band retaining enough control and skill to allow the tune to work through the glorious noise. The song is relentless in its pace and the execution is top-drawer, aided and abetted in its urgency by an insistent ‘police-siren’ guitar riff that cuts across the track. ‘Disappointment’ is heavier still but avoids the ‘metal’ tag by virtue of Karl’s vocals: this time reminding me on the verse of Bauhaus-era Pete Murphy of all people before careering into the catchy chorus. Perilously breathless at this point in time, final track ‘Sober’ seals my fate and 3rd party resuscitation is administered after its 2’22”.
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ELVISS should be showing up on your monitor a.s.a.p.
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