Zelazowa - 'Elephant on a Mousehunt'

Slithering, shrieking classic rock in the style of Led Zeppelin, Mountain, and the Answer (Remember them?) refuses to die on Zelazowa’s new album Elephants on a Mousehunt. Slugging through 13 songs in 45 minutes, Elephants would be worthy of a Rolling Stones comparison, but at least they wrote a few good tunes. While Mick and the gang built off of their blues influences, Zelazowa goes for a bare-minimum approach.

There’s little to distinguish one track from the next, outside of guitar intros. Sometimes the band comes out swinging, like on opener “Today is Tomorrow,” and sometimes they go for a moody build-up, a la “Everything We Are” or the slow, druggy “Baby Blue (Listening to the Earth Shift).” Regardless, the Beatles-by-way-of-the-Vines sound almost always ends with frontman/guitarist Bryan Weber sounding like his balls are being dipped in battery acid. I can’t condone that kind of torture. Quite frankly, listeners and testicles both deserve better.

While the band occasionally shows glimmers of Soundgarden-style grunge, Zelazowa is mostly just another cock rock bar band. So, for those of you who miss Velvet Revolver (all none of you), try Zelazowa.