I am a sucker for gimmicks. Slipknot’s masks, Ghost being an evil Pope, Jack White playing mistuned guitars with The White Stripes, Elvis’ karate and Vegas flair…..they’re all gimmicks and I love them.
In fact, I love anything and everything Elvis. Hence, I have a tattoo of The King on my shoulder and this awesome velvet Elvis that hangs about my turntable.
I fully believe that Elvis Presley is the single most important person in the history of music. And, given enough time, I can convince you of the same. But, that is not the purpose of today’s blog…..
I saw a post on Reddit about an Elvis fronted Nirvana tribute band and I almost lost my shit. That sounds amazing! I didn’t just want this record, I needed it. I had to have it in my life. I had to have it on my shelf. Just read those words again: Elvis. Fronted. Nirvana.
It’s genius. It’s magical. I ordered it immediately.
What I wanted was a full-on Elvis impersonator singing Nirvana songs and/or Elvis songs in Nirvana’s style. This record is not quite that. It tries……kind of……a little……I guess.
To his credit, the lead singer of Elvana makes a comment on Live From Disgraceland that he doesn’t really sound like Elvis and that a lot of times he sounds like Nicolas Cage. This is true.
His voice is not bad, it just isn’t as Elvis sounding as I had hoped. He’s a pretty ok vocalist that does a good job at singing Nirvana songs. And the band is incredibly solid. They do a very good job at paying homage to one of the most important bands in history.
The Nirvana and Elvis songs are paired together. Most of them flow into each nicely and sound as if Nirvana was completely fucking around and trying out some Elvis classics. However, there are times when the two songs collide into each other like a damn trainwreck. It can be bad…..really bad.
On the whole, this record is interesting to have. And I really don’t hate it. It just isn’t what I thought it would be.
This is a live recording of a really great party band that has a unique gimmick. They’re good at playing up the crowd and I am sure that it is really fun to see a guy in an Elvis jumpsuit singing Breed, Heart Shaped Box, Lithium, et. al. However, that energy and fun does not completely translate to the record. It comes across a little, but only a little.
I do hope to one day see them live. I would definitely pay money to see this show.
My favorite track: Breed/Viva Las Vegas
Blood For Vinyl 