The Elms

(originally appeared in Ninevolt)

                On the front page of the Elms’ official website, there’s a quote from Minneapolis music critic Jim Walsh, saying, “I believe people should stop saying ‘that rocks’ about things that absolutely do not rock.”

It should, then, still be safe to say that the Elms rock...because, seriously, they really do.

When the band released their debut full-length LP, The Big Surprise, back in 2001, Ninevolt asked, “Could an album title possibly be more apropos?”  It was, of course, a rhetorical question; coming on the heels of that inquiry was the observation that “The Big Surprise contains several songs that scream ‘instant classic’ as early as the first listen.”

Time will tell if the band’s follow-up, Truth, Soul, Rock & Roll, will fall into the “instant classic” category, but, if it doesn’t, it won’t be from lack of trying on the band’s part.

The tunes on The Big Surprise found the Elms readily compared to such Christian music luminaries as PFR and All-Star United.  While Owen Thomas, the Elms’ lead singer, agrees that, based on that album, “we’d be in that lineage,” the comparisons may well fall apart with Truth, Soul, Rock & Roll.

                “With the new album,” he explains, “I think we’re carving our own thing.  It’s so much more American, with guitar solos...stripped down, but very loud.  We really went for a lot of soul this time.  It’s scrappy sometimes, and it’s loose, but it’s very spirited.  I reference ‘60s records when I think of those sort of qualities; I think of the Stones, and how Mick Jagger would play the tambourine so loud that it would overpower the drum kit in the mix.  That’s the niche we’re trying to carve for ourselves.  We love to make a soulful event out of records and out of performances.

                “Stylistically, I don’t know that I can reference a Christian band that’s done that in recent memory,” Thomas admits.  “Everyone’s kind of got their own gig.   The Stones, the Who, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers...I wouldn’t be so presumptuous as to say that we’re in that league, but I feel like they’re our musical kindred spirits.”

                When talking to Thomas, one gets the impression that, although the Elms are pegged as a Christian band, the faith and spirituality within their lyrics is...well, semi-incidental.

                “A stance I’ve always taken,” he explains, “is that I choose not to write about what I don’t know.  What I DO know is that the spiritual aspect of my life is the most prevalent, pervasive part of my life.  It’s how I make decisions, it’s how I gauge my actions, and I’ve always written about it because it’s a very real, tangible thing to me.  I’ve felt it my whole life.  So my lyrics will always have that angle.

 “On the album we’re getting ready to put out, I think it may rub certain members of the church the wrong way.  I write about the frustration of having people in your camp who are, well, perhaps misrepresenting God.  I think they’re missing the point.  There are certain practices and doctrines that are fundamental to certain churches, and I think they think it’s a good thing, in that they’re serving God and doing good things, but I really feel that, by the fruit of their actions, you can tell that it’s missing the point.  They’re not succeeding in what they’re attempting.  There are people with good intentions who need to get a grasp on the most effective way to accomplish their objective.  I think that some of these things that people have been doing for hundreds of years just aren’t working any more.”

When the Elms hit Hampton Roads, it’ll be as openers for Jars of Clay, mainstays of the Christian music community who still receive regular airplay with their breakthrough hit, “Flood.”

It’s a cool line-up,” says Thomas, with obvious excitement.  “Just us and them.  We get a good set...about 35 minutes.  It’s really exciting to be out with a band that’s made the premise of their career that it’s about the music. (Jars of Clay) are kind of more laid back than we are; they’re not as riff-oriented, and they’re not quite as loud.  Not quite as rock ‘n’ roll, as it were.  But they’re great songwriters, and they really care about putting on a good show.  We’ll kind of bring a little edge to the whole thing.  It’s an exciting tour; people will really enjoy themselves, seeing two different bands operate in the same world that night.”

When it comes right down to it, though, it’s not about what you believe; it’s about what you enjoy.