ROADS / The Alphabets

Despite relying on acoustic guitars, violins and horns, Kingsley Flood draws more from the Clash than the Band. The first song on the six-piece Boston band's latest EP Colder Still ("I Don't Wanna Go Home") was an NPR Song of the Day (its video premiered on Paste's website), the Boston Globe calling it "a doozy, roaring out of the speakers like a jingle-jangle summer jam from the late '80s." AOL Spinner premiered the song "Mannequin Man," saying “Kingsley Flood play salt-of-the-earth type of music that doesn’t strive for authenticity – it claims it.” The song recently made Esquire Magazine's "Future of American Music" playlist.

Called "the best live band in Boston" by the Boston Herald, the band won New Artist of the Year at the 2010 Boston Music Awards and Best Roots Act in the 2010 and 2011 Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll. The music blog Twangville captures the feeling of the rowdy live shows, calling the band "a potent mix of gypsy folk and roadhouse rock, a raucous affair both live and on record."

It started with two former label mates and competitors at Maverick Records, Josh McMillan (of Deuce Project fame) and solo artist, Ben Jelen (Maverick, Custard Records), who had unwittingly become friends. Both had, after all, spent their late teens and early twenties ensnared in the emotionally draining ebbs and flows of near rock stardom. Their next musical chapter unfolded when they realized that only together, as a part of something larger, could they attempt to topple the walls that the industry had built around them. With this, Under the Elephant was born; a family of friends and musicians that came together to create a unique and organic sound from the heart.

Both Ben and Josh’s years of experience in the pop music industry has influenced the band’s deeply melodic song writing and emotionally charged live shows. While sometimes hinting at a spiritual element, the songs of Under the Elephant combine Pop, Rock, Dance, and Electronica to create a magical journey. McMillan leads this troop with his southern alt. rock vocal accompanied by Jelen’s rich vocal harmony and modern synth. Lead guitarist, James Darwin Stull, fills in the sound, with his unconventional guitar lines, while the rhythm section, brothers Stan and Steve Esposito on bass and drums, muscle the beat into that downtown Manhattan dance-floor vibe. Their sound completes itself with the blend of Jelen, Tina Mathieu and Lisa McMillan on back-up vocals as they conjure an illusion to a gospel choir responding to lead singer McMillan’s sometimes frenzied preacher-like chants.

After garnering a small New York following with the strength of first draft demos and high-energy live shows, Under the Elephant disappeared into the studio. For the past year, the band independently recorded and mixed their debut album at Electric Blue Velvet Studios in Sleepy Hollow, NY.

Under the Elephant released their album, The Eleventh Hour, on April 22, 2011 at Webster Hall in NYC and were recently featured on NBC New York. You can get your copy of the album HERE!

Stay tuned for much more to come from Under the Elephant.