Cage The Elephant Announce New Album

Cage The Elephant will release their sophomore album, Thank You, Happy Birthday (Jive Records), on January 11, 2011. Produced by Jay Joyce and recorded at Tragedy/Tragedy Studios in Nashville, TN, the album is the band’s follow up to their critically acclaimed 2009 self-titled debut, which has sold nearly 400,000 copies to date, spawned 3 Top 5 singles at Alternative Radio and has kept the band on the road for nearly two years. Now, Cage The Elephant returns with a 13-song collection of raucous rock that displays an expanded sound for the band.

The young five-piece from Bowling Green, KY, Matt Shultz (vocals), Brad Shultz (guitar), Daniel Tichenor (bass), Lincoln Parish (guitar) and Jared Champion (drums), accumulated 80 songs worth of ideas during a two-year period touring around the globe and living abroad in England supporting their eponymous debut. As they began sorting through their arsenal of songs upon returning to Kentucky to record album two, they were unwavering in their devotion to making a record that reflected their vast musical growth and interests as a band.

Although Cage The Elephant has made more fans and has sold more records than most recent bands on their debuts, they have engaged in indulgences that took them off track and battled their share of demons and creative doubts. Their adversities forced them to take a fresh approach with their new album, and their lives. The band locked themselves away in a remote Kentucky cabin, listened to and discovered old albums from the Pixies, Mudhoney and Butthole Surfers, and studied interviews with songwriting greats like Bob Dylan and John Lennon. Cage the Elephant were re-energized, and ready to lay it all down on the line-inhibition free. After just two weeks, Cage The Elephant emerged with a set of songs that blast through your speakers with ferocity, while at the same time reflect their clever lyrical and melodic gifts.

Never playing by the rules, Cage The Elephant is a band so raw and unrestrained, their creations have no boundaries- in the best way possible. Never predictable on stage, their new album reflects those volatile emotions that drive their electric live show. They scream, they spit lyrics, they harmonize, they whisper…it’s their own flavor of ordered chaos. Spanning themes of non-conformity, hypocrisy, and societal pressures, uber-catchy anthem "Aberdeen" showcases their hit-worthy songwriting while "Sell Yourself" is pure guts. Sing along-friendly lead single "Shake Me Down" is packed with explosive loud-quiet-loud interludes that showcase Champion's skills on a set of toy drums that were expertly recorded by Jay Joyce, who also produced their debut. On "Tangled," Matt Shultz breaks out his best Frank Black yell to let off steam- just one of several amped-up songs we’re looking forward to seeing him tear apart live during the band's mind-blowing, energetic shows. “Flow” is a beautiful, quiet percussive tune that rounds out this album with a wink.

Prior to the LP’s release, fans can get an early taste of the album when Cage The Elephant releases a 7” vinyl of “Shake Me Down”/”Aberdeen” available exclusively during Record Store Day’s “Black Friday” event on November 26.

Cage The Elephant’s self-titled debut album, which features hit singles “In One Ear,” “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked” and “Back Against The Wall,” remained on the Billboard 200 Chart for an astounding 73 consecutive weeks. On October 1 and 2, 2010, Cage The Elephant spearheaded the Starry Nights Music Festival, the first annual international music festival in their hometown of Bowling Green, KY. The band succeeded in providing both new and established bands an organic, artist-centric platform for their music.

Thank You, Happy Birthday tracklisting in full:
1. Always Something
2. Aberdeen
3. Indy Kidz
4. Shake Me Down
5. 2024
6. Sell Yourself
7. Rubber Ball
8. Right Before My Eyes
9. Tangled
10. Sabertooth Tiger
11. Japanese Buffalo
12. Flow
13. Shiver