Cage The Elephant Provide Very Compelling Evidence That A ’90s Revival Is Upon Us

noah | April 29, 2009 10:30 am

MTV2’s Subterranean–in which blog-beloved bands get their chance to be on TV during Nielsen-unmetered hours–was picked up by my DVR at 5 a.m. today, and the first video to pop on my screen was the above clip, courtesy of the Kentucky band Cage The Elephant. I feel like I should warn you right now: It’s going to be inescapable this summer, especially if you live near a college town or any other geographic area that houses a lot of young males who are into drinking large quantities of beer at one time.

“Ain’t No Rest For the Wicked” peaked in the lower reaches of the UK singles charts when it was released across the pond last year, but it sounds tailor-made to soundtrack recessionary good times this summer. It’s basically a rewrite of the Butthole Surfers’ “Pepper,” with added flourishes that recall “Loser,” the Bloodhound Gang, and the collected works of Shaun Ryder. (The first frame of the video to flicker onscreen made me actually wonder if MTV2 had dredged a Black Grape clip out of its archives.) And it’s a formula that seems to be working so far: The track is quickly rising up the notoriously molasses-like Modern Rock Tracks chart, and thanks to its being a free single at iTunes last week it’s also being added to libraries on the digital-music-tracking service iLike at a fast clip.

Apparently they are playing this weekend’s parking-lot festival in New Jersey Bamboozle; I am allegedly attending, so further evidence will be gathered then. But for now, consider yourself warned.

Cage The Elephant – Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked [Dailymotion] Cage The Elephant [MySpace]