Elefant, Flogging Molly, The Honorary Title, Mi and L’au

ELEFANT
With 2003′s Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid, Elefant — helmed by the really, really, really good-looking Diego Garcia — delivered an intimate 10-track album of critically lauded garage rock with an uncomplicated sound and sincere vocals. Luckily, Elefant’s long-awaited follow-up, The Black Magic Show, is like a Zantac pill taking me to my Diego Garcia happy place. More aggressive and less catchy, the New York City quartet is angling more towards the hipster dark side and sounding more new wave. Magic Show’s single “Lolita”, inspired by a brief affair with a Hollywood starlet, features an ear-catching riff that sounds like a higher-pitched version of the Strokes’ “Juicebox”. But while the music on Magic Show is edgier, Garcia’s singing is more flamboyant (a la the Killers’ Brandon Flowers and Interpol’s Paul Banks) creating a new musical yin-yang for Elefant. Magic Show waves good-bye to the dreamy, kiss-blown ballads of their last record and brings out some new Elefant inner badass. (Appearing with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at Metro on Feb. 8) –text: Charley Rogulewski

FLOGGING MOLLY
Fronted by transplanted Dubliner Dave King (vocals/guitar), Flogging Molly fuses the Irish folk-rock sensibilities of The Pogues, Thin Lizzy, and The Saw Doctors with a Rancid-esque dedication to the punk ethic to create a rich and energetic sound that can best be described as “rebel music.” Replete with fiddles, whistles, accordians, mandolins, banjos, distorted guitar crunch, up-tempo backbeats and cocky sarcastic lyrics, Flogging Molly demonstrates a true appreciation for traditional Irish folk music despite a sense of irreverence matching Led Zeppelin’s treatment of Chicago blues. The 7-piece orchestra delivers dose after dose of 3-minute speed-folk that leaves audiences with little opportunity to make sense of things before the next tune hits, initiating a fresh round of controlled hysteria. The Los Angeles-based band is currently heading up the Guinness Green 17 (for those of a drinking age) and Black 17 (for the underage kiddies with fake IDs) tours throughout the nation. (Appearing at House of Blues as part of the Guinness Black 17 Tour on Feb. 8 and as part of the Guinness Green 17 Tour on Feb. 9) –text: Mike AlKaraki

THE HONORARY TITLE
The Honorary Title is a poetry- and folk-inspired indie pop band. My brother (who, when we were kids, introduced me to the likes of Bob Dylan and Prince) loves them. For several months now, he’s been e-mailing their songs to me and typing their praises. He’s been to see them a couple of times in NYC and he describes rooms full of attentive, crowd-shushing fans enraptured by the sounds the band makes — and, even more so, by the words emotionally and convincingly sung by The Honorary Title’s frontman/guitarist/vocalist Jarrod Gorbel. In “Cut Short” (from their 2004 album, Anything But The Truth), he pleads: “My situation’s quite sad/I’m still living with my mom and my dad/But really I’m going places/Even though I’m seeing three of your faces/Please, God, let’s not resort to mini-mall parking spaces.” He sings honest-sounding things like that…and I think it’s because he’s not making it up. (Appearing for the early show at Beat Kitchen on Feb. 4) –text: Michelle C. Liffick

MI& L’AU
Minimal in practice but lavish with purpose, Mi and L’au’s self-titled release for the Young God imprint sits pretty with the heart. With the ever somber drone of Mi’s enchanting vocal muse blended with L’au’s swirling guitar work, the melodies can’t help but translate into emotions acceptable for any mood. These melodies float like the delicate journey of a snowflake, from its birthplace in the sky to its home in the hearth of this Earth. The sound is a welcome space for one’s own visualization of beauty, somewhat representative of the process by which the music was first created — the debut is said to have been written in a secluded cabin in Finland where the pair reside. Folk music is by definition stripped down and labeled for its simplicity, but this is something more than that. This is the music of compassion. (Appearing with Shelly Short and In the Country at Empty Bottle on Feb. 4) –text: Cliff Berru