This is a personal favorite artist of mine. They are a versatile indie band from Athens, Georgia that has changed quite drastically. They have become more flamboyant in their musical style, ranging from children's book garage rock in their early work to the psilocybin haze of their strange psychedelic dance music in their newest efforts. Their lead singer and songwriter, Kevin Barnes is an extremely talented lyricist. He's evolved over the years, first displaying nonsensical banter, such as this album demonstrates, intricate emotional and chronological themes and stories on concept albums like "The Gay Parade" and "Coquelicot Asleep In the Poppies", and highly personal lyricism found in "Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?" and "Skeletal Lamping". All the while, he's never failed to write one hell of a pop song. I have always admired, or fell in love with Kevin's ability to take the smallest of expressions and parts of songs and make them totally meaningful, where one phrase of a song lasting a few seconds can make the whole song and make you listen again and again.
Horse and Elephant Eatery is a compilation album of B-Sides and oddities from their early career up until 2000 when this album was released. There are a few covers, and a bit of Kevin's trademark nonsensical lyrics and a stirring psychedelic children's story "Ira's Brief Life As a Spider" about a baby spider dying and being reincarnated on the planet called Nearly, where wild horses hold the majority in the senate and Ira has discovered pudding. His favorite is the kind without raisins. There are plenty of amazing pop songs on this record, my favorites being "Scenes From My Funeral" which depicts the singer's funeral, his body clad in a dark blue suit with blue stars, and his spirit dancing on all of the attendant's bald heads. Other favorites include "Joseph and Alexander", "Buried With Me", and "The You I Created".
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