Elsinore

At times, I can't help but feel that one of this year's most overlooked albums is Elsinore's Yes Yes Yes.  This also ties in with the EP they released in January called The Chemicals.  Although the releases experienced some very moderate success, overall it seems as though both have flown under the radar.  I am kind of surprised by this. They have a very youthful, college pop sound that I would think my generation would enjoy.  Yet it also steers away from a lot of synthy, electronic computerized sounds that my parent's generation wouldn't like.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that I feel like their sound can be enjoyable to several age groups.  Despite this, Elsinore hasn't caught on.

After some thought, though, I realized that maybe Elsinore's sound is a little too contrived.  Currently in a time when the indie music is experimenting with new ethereal chillwave techniques and Sufjan Stevens, arguably the best contemporary folk musician at the present time, is getting away with making songs that involve glitch hop and scratchy noises, it might just be that Elsinore doesn't have its place quite yet.  Perhaps they haven't been able to break free of the nerd-pop barrier like Ra Ra Riot was able to do.  They do for sure sound, and look, nerdy.  Just look at Elsinore's lead singer:

Yarg!  I'll fight you with my level 60 Mage and pwn you newbs.

This isn't meant to bring Elsinore down or anything, I really really enjoy their music and I think they're very underrated.  I just think they still may need to find their own niche in order to gain more recognition.  Don't take my word for it, check out the songs "Lines" and "Yes Yes Yes" from Yes Yes Yes below to develop your own opinion.  Enjoy!

Lines

Yes Yes Yes

You can download them here.