Music Review: Eleganza!, ‘Water Valley High’
The genre-straddling Minnesota rock band serves up their trademark eclectic blend of styles and influences on a potent new album.
Eleganza! album artwork, Water Valley High, 2022.
Eleganza! has been a mainstay of the Twin Cities music scene for nearly a decade, and most of its members have even longer histories in local music. Vocalist/guitarist Brian Vanderwerf is from The Midnight Evils and Chooglin’, guitarist Jeff Johnson was also in Chooglin’, guitarist Greg McAloon played bass for Ol’ Yeller, Charlie Smith (piano/organ/vocals) has played in over 25 local bands, bassist Tony Zaccardi was in Romantica and Kruddler (and also owns iconic West Bank venue Palmer’s Bar), and drummer Tim Baumgart was in Wizards Are Real, Big Ditch Road and Kruddler. And I’m sure that’s just scratching the surface of their histories! For a sophomore album, their upcoming release Water Valley High contains multitudes of experience.
Having seen Eleganza! live a time or three, I expected (and got) a record full of fun, energetic Americana that moves fluidly between country, 70s-influenced Southern rock, and a hefty dose of harder rock that edges into punk territory. But I’d never paid attention to words when experiencing them live, so I didn’t expect, between songs about partying and troublemaking, some thoughtful, relatable lyrics that range from the personal to the political.
The opening track, “Even If There’s One,” could be one of the most personal but is also universal, something almost everyone has gone through at some point. “They said it was a courageous battle / one that could not be won / to a fight no one wants.” How many times have I wished I believed some I lost was “taken to a better place,” while thinking that’s probably something we tell ourselves to help us make the unbearable feel better? In reality, “No I don’t know the reason / or even if there’s one.” Rendered in an easy mid-tempo country-rock style, it’s one of the mellowest songs on the record.
Eleganza! Photo credit: unknown
The second track, “Sick Of What I Need,” soon kicks the album into high gear with a snarl of electric guitar and machine-gun-rapid drums. This song is a dangerous earworm; every time I listen to it, the chorus “All I wanna do is bring it on home to you” stays in my head for the rest of the day—but it’s so fun to listen to that I’m not even mad about it. It’s one of two party songs on the album that verge on punk rock (along with “Here Comes Trouble”).
As if to show off their range within as few songs as possible, the third track takes another twist and showcases a bluesy, rootsy Southern rock feel. The lyrics of “Lonesome and High'' wallow in hard times in an enjoyably spunky way, sharing the lovable underdog vibe of some of my favorite Hank Williams Sr. songs: “I’m still wondering what comes next, still hopin’ for the best, still fightin’ for what’s comin’ to me / but I’ll be gone before I see anything going my way / Not too many miles left in the tank … What’s a desperate man to do?”
A few other harder-to-categorize songs blend genres more organically; “Down With Me” melds that punk vibe with the Southern rock touches, while “The Hardest Word” cranks up the rock side of country rock while still retaining a honkytonk feel. “Get Brown” fuses a harder edge and honkytonk into a charming melange (I believe this song might be a call for celebrating multiculturalism, but I get too carried away by the energetic tempo and infectious piano glisses to stay focused on the lyrics). I’m fascinated by Eleganza!’s ability to dial different parts of their sound up and down to create such a diverse set of songs while managing to sound like the same band on every track.
Eleganza! Photo credit: unknown
“Ain’t Over Yet” takes on a completely different turn, and while it was reminiscent of songs I’ve heard, I couldn’t quite define the sound, and my limited non-country vocabulary betrays me. I’m tempted to call it a grunge anthem, though I’m not sure that’s a thing. With its slow tempo, atmospheric vocals, hints of psychedelia and hard-edged instrumentation, it had me thinking fondly about 1990s alternative radio.
That Southern rock feel comes back for “Scared And Stupid,” a cutting take-down of a frustrating type of person we’ve all experienced: “Don’t know about history / doesn’t care to know…no brain for science / don’t want to hear any facts.” Stuck in an echo chamber of lies, there’s no room for learning or growth, so things inevitably turn ugly when someone is “so full of fear it’s turned to hate / ready to attack.” I love that Eleganza! chose a rootsy Southern-tinged vehicle to deliver that message; it adds an ironic smirk to it somehow.
For a record packed with good-time party songs, Water Valley High unexpectedly ends with a track as heartfelt as the one it opened with. “Borderless” decries the arbitrary unfairness of geographic restrictions (“If you could grow wings / fly like a bird / wouldn’t have to worry / where you flew from / soar over walls, cross over lines”) and the “senseless cruelty” of people willing to tear families apart to enforce them. The song builds in a slow burn to a frustrated scream, an intense emotional surprise in an album packed with unexpected twists.
Eleganza! Photo credit: unknown
While the album is a ton of fun on its own, I recommend you get the full Eleganza! experience live. Water Valley High comes out April 29, and the band will celebrate its release with a show at 7th Street Entry, supported by local rockers Monica LaPlante and Mad Mojo Jett.
Carol Roth. Photo credit: Dan Lee
Carol Roth is a full-time marketing copywriter and the main music journalist and social media publicist for Adventures in Americana. In addition to studying the guitar and songwriting, Carol’s additional creative side hustle is writing self-proclaimed “trashy” novels under the pseudonym T.A. Berkeley!
