I tend to check out the bands who send press over. I gotta say, Elephant 12 was a great way to start my morning off! Their latest, “Sold Out”, is “on the shelf,” and if the whole record is anything like the the first single, it should sell out in no time!

“Love Knock On Wood” totally rocks! It’s a great pop-punk tune with a catchy vocal and cool guitar riffs with deftly blended styles from around the world. Yeah Yeah! Ooh, Whoo!

Lyrics that sort of remind me of Cake or Foo Fighters fit in with raunchy staccato guitars with crazy stereo effects, and stupid cool stylistic changes keep the ears in high-alert mode all the way through. Top that off with a good mix and – damn!

Like the old Chili Peppers songs, “Love Knock On Wood” tells a story; blunt and to the point, but it’s not one that you get all of on the first listen. Yo, there’s textures and layers woven in the lyrics like the canvas they’ve been painted on.

Elephant 12 is Andy Metro who programs the beats, Robbie Pinna who plays guitar and Thelonious Jones on vocals. Elephant 12 is influenced by heavy rock artists like Rage Against the Machine, Nine Inch Nails and Ritchie Blackmore, but also r&b artist like Sam Cooke, and hip hop performers like the Roots and Outkast. Aside from music, the band is inspired by human behaviors, relationship, spirituality and love. They have been exciting audiences in this year with shows in Toronto, NYC to Texas, but now it’s time for these guys to get some attention in the music world beyond. The biggest thrill for Elephant 12 is creating music from scratch, taking the initial concept of a song and seeing it through to a final product that audiences can enjoy and participate in. The band has modest goals of simply getting a little more exposure, gaining listeners and press and turning new people onto their unique blend of styles.

Update 8/22/2013: As I mentioned earlier, I like to check out the bands that send their press releases for publication, and I sure am glad to have opened this one up. I put the whole EP on my playlist and have been rocking it all week, now. This is one RoKKin’ record all the way through. I recommend that you don’t pass it up!

Their single “Love Knock on Wood” was recently featured in a commercial for the extreme sports camera company, GoPro.

Website: http://www.elephant12.com
Music: http://www.youtube.com/user/elephantwelve

You can purchase Elephant 12 music from iTunes. You can also get free downloads from Soundcloud and their latest EP “Sold Out” is available for free through their BandCamp page