Nashville has produced another gem that balances Southern charm in an East Coast outfit. Elroy Love calls Georgia home, but the bright lights of Nashville roped the trio in and led to their debut release, “Glitch Cowboy.”
The EP tells the story of a spurned and burnt-out lover struggling helplessly through a series of blunted romantic encounters. The protagonist fights a losing battle to changing times and the shifting tides of Lady Love’s fancy. The music offers a new voice to the traditionally gendered archetype of romantic victims — a voice listeners won’t be quick to forget.
The vocals, bellowed by front-man Thomas Young, have a timeless quality — rich and smooth yet slightly rough around the edges, which offers a raw and honest feel to the otherwise polished product. Young’s voice anchors the sound crafted around simple guitar melodies, colored in with playfully wild electronic touches and jostling cymbal play.
Debut track “5 AM (Chin Up Boy)” settles audiences into a comfortable listening experience. It introduces the rustic acoustic guitar which serves as a touch-point throughout the seven-track EP. A hidden pickup at the end of “5 AM” cues listeners to the playfulness that balances out the band’s sad lyricism. Such spirited bounciness almost feels like the band’s promise to listeners to not take themselves too seriously.
The song reflects the very particular pain of housing heartbreak while projecting the inured masculinity expected of Southern men. The silent torture the protagonist goes through weaves together each track. “Fingernails” pinpoints the exhaustion which comes with romantic turmoil, and “Spit” finishes this thought with the drained lover’s ataractic wish to have numbness, to be “turn[ed] off,” even if it means foregoing any chance of happiness.
The EP is deeply invested in relationships, but not just of the romantic variety. It discusses family as a disengaged and crumbling entity. In “Brother,” Young’s poetic lyricism captures the disillusionment of a mature man reevaluating his childhood. The EP also dances around the phases through which many relationships must go — the scary and often unwelcome vulnerability which comes with care in “Snow,” the nostalgic post-honeymoon lull in “Fourth of July” and the antagonism of worn lovers in “Spit.”
The EP’s genius lies in its versatility. The clay-tinted soundscape varies dramatically throughout the set, from the old-school country “Fourth of July” to the rocking “5 AM.” The songs are pushed along by catchy drums and tried-and-true guitar melodies. Each song falls around the five minute mark, paying homage to the Southern balladry which inspired Elroy Love. The band boasts a surprisingly full sound despite being only three strong, and this would probably translate well into a live show.
The EP serves as a collective confession of men who grew up being told to “chin-up” in the face of hurt and heartbreak. It is deeply personal and yet relatable, even cathartic, for those straddling two different eras. The album fades out with soft and haunting “Grass’ll Green,” which cryptically denies listeners a sense of completion to the story — is the exhausted voice ironic or genuinely hopeful when he vows “I don’t mind waiting”? One thing is sure — Elroy Love has made its mark in the Tennessee sun, and it is here for the long haul.
The EP can be streamed in full via the band’s Bandcamp website.
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