Elk City

The name of the band is Elk City. The football club in the town I live in is called The Elks, The Edmonton Elks. That means I live in Elk City.

The name of the album from Elk City is Above The Water. Speaking metaphorically, I am generally keeping my head above the water. I do tread water sometimes, but for the most part, I am standing on solid ground. Elk City is skipping over water in the song Your Time Doesn’t Exist or Floating Above The Water in the song of the same name.

Elk City pulled me into their music from the shimmering opening chords of the opening song, That Someone. That Someone is at Someone’s Party in track two, a nifty bit of writing that had me smiling and thinking of the Peter Sellers movie, The Party.

Who writes songs about apologizing for “who knows what anymore”? That comes to fruition in the “Apology Song.” I like the bass line that seems to weave through this track and hold it all together, and this is good stuff; no apology is needed.

Next, we get into some philosophical pragmatism. The song in question is Your Time Doesn’t Exist. I am not sure what the message is. I got lost on existentialist pragmatic rabbit trails that felt realistic but ended up being idealism in disguise. Please don’t take my word for it. I suggest listening for yourself and seeing which school of philosophy Your Time Doesn’t Exist fits into the best.

“Being alone is the best drug – It is the best way to be.”

“Oh, we can take the best moments we had

Make our mistakes and make each other glad

That we were a family”

And being together is the best way to be”

Being alone and being together are both from the golden nugget of this album, as far as I can hear it. The song is called A Family and has a more laid-back feel with an acoustic guitar that gives it a smooth feel than the electric sound of the other songs. There is still a bit of electric magic in the background that grows more audacious later in the song.

The grunge of Elk City comes out at night in the track Don’t You Wanna Try. The music takes on a gritty soundscape, but the lyrics offer a vision of being a better person.

Don’t you wanna try to make a little light

Shine a little way

And maybe you change or maybe you could get some

Don’t you wanna try to make a little light on everybody’s life On everybody’s time

The all-too-short EP ends with a smooth and shimmering ode. I am not sure what it is an ode to, but I like the sound, a smooth and shimmering ode. A bit of lyrical poetry. A graceful exit. Thank you Elk City for keeping me entranced for a dozen or more listens to your EP, Above The Water.

‘Floating Above the Water’ https://youtu.be/fGvgZMmwuvQ
Order the album https://linktr.ee/elkcity
Bandcamp https://elkcity.bandcamp.com/album/above-the-water
Apple Music https://music.apple.com/us/album/above-the-water/1648069921 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/4JfwZg4wHtAL05zAI8bNKA ‘Apology Song’ https://youtu.be/Vt5Ba0CIUgA
‘Your Time Doesn’t Exist’ https://youtu.be/nzP8N7aG3-c
‘That Someone’ https://youtu.be/bEyhHv9Y4eE
Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/user-168836748