Starsign Trampoline

We Say...

Review by Peter Parrish

With toy pianos, wurlitzers and harmoniums all pushing their way to the fore, it sometimes seems as though Lucky Elephant are out to advance some kind of novelty keyed-instrument agenda. Jaunty tales like "Reverend Tisley & His Magic Lantern" ride on bright organ melodies and narratives of soft surrealism, adding weight to the notion that Star Sign Trampoline is little more than an exercise in whimsy.

While the carefree, lilting "Edgar" also fits this mold, the early pairing of "The Pier" and "Modern Life, Changing People" offer a different tone — one of conservative nostalgia and a passionate distaste for the side-effects of modernity. In the first, vocalist Emmanuel Labescat laments the change that has transformed an old fishing town. Minor-chord guitar patterns and a mournful pulse color his bittersweet portrayal of disenfranchised workers trapped by "cold glass and cheap steel." The latter, backed by the heaviest percussion on the album, finds Labescat debating whether any real social progress has been made at all ("If, only if, we're modern life changing people.")

Despite the welcome presence of Emmanuel's rich voice, it's the instrumental numbers that stand out on the album's second half. "Burn Down the Acres" begins like one of Nick Cave's solo balladeering moments, builds to a jazzy swagger and ends as a gentle lullaby. The real standout, though, is "When You Fall to Earth," a breeze of glass-tap chimes, wood-block drumming and unrestrained piano, recalling late-era Pram at their heights. Much as the record's sunnier moments may draw the ear, focusing on these alone would be to miss out on Lucky Elephant's true breadth of feeling.