Moving Like A Snake When It Is Christmas

The Elephants “Turtle Struggles”

Let’s jump straight to the ending: Yes, there’s nothing wrong with your mp3, it’s supposed to end abruptly like that. This is not a case of a song continuing on into the next track, it is intended to build up to a thrilling climax and cut out. It’s an interesting choice. The rest of the song seems very eager to please — the shuffling beat, the light harmonies, the cozy keyboard tones, the sweet guitar hooks — but that decision to deny a fully satisfying resolution retroactively changes the tone of the entire piece, shifting it from amiable indie pop to something more discursive and elliptical. The character of the song changes noticeably around the four minute mark, shifting out of its brisk indie mode toward a more dramatic guitar build akin to Sonic Youth or …Trail of the Dead circa Source Tags And Codes. To a certain extent I would have enjoyed another minute or two of that sound, but I’ve become rather fond of the drop out, if just because it gives the impression of being interrupted in the middle of a good thought.

Buy it from Tapete Records.