"The Tractor was packed for a Wednesday night and openers Elba, took the stage with their brand of timeless pop/rock gems. They put on an impressive show. Elba is one of those bands who craft songs to mesmerize and stay with you for a bit. They are an act to watch out for."
– Seattle Subsonic
"ELBA with Gabriel Mintz, The Quit @ The Crocodile
This show will serve as the release party for local band Elba's new EP Diplodocus. Elba play indie rock with a unique Western vibe to it, almost like an early-Modest Mouse if they were from the desert, mixed with a more forceful, driving Edward Sharpe. Throw some Pixies in there too, perhaps. Questionable comparisons aside, they rock and I feel like the Diplodocus album cover is a pretty good representation of the EP's sound. Take that for what you will. (8 pm, $8, 21+)"
– KEXP Blog
"High-volume indie-rock quintet Elba has seen plenty of shifts since beginning as a trio in 2005, but its guitar-driven melodies accented with bass crescendos, cymbal crashes, and understated vocals have only grown. And though five-track Diplodocus was recorded near the end of 2009, more roster shakeups delayed the release--and any shows since then--until tonight.
Coming back after taking a year off means Elba is starting from scratch in many respects. But they're already in the process of recording their new record, and the outfit has big plans--including translating its notably high-volume and high-energy performances onto wax. They may not have seen commercial success, but if nothing else, their years of playing small venues for small crowds have created a good sense of humor, evidenced by their propensity to discuss 1995 Ben Stiller flick Heavy Weights and British anarcho-rock band Chumbawumba."
– Nick Feldman – The Seattle Weekly
"As The Dismemberment Plan, the Pixies and Modest Mouse rank among our list of favorites, we've been paying close attention to Seattle's Elba, who cites those three bands as some of their major influences. If you too are a fan of The D. Plan's polyrhythms or Frank Black's choppy, boyish vocal style, we bet you'll enjoy tonight's album release show at the Crocodile.
If that weren't enough, the always entertaining, enormously talented Gabriel Mintz will take the stage after local power-pop favorites The Quit. Get to the Croc early, as we recommend all three bands in this, the liveliest Seattle showcase of the week."
– Seattle Live Music Blog
"Elba won't celebrate the release of their second album Don't Be Discouraged, Little Sparrow until their homecoming Seattle show at the beginning of August, but you'll be able to hear tunes from the new record as they swing through Portland on their current West Coast jaunt. Elba makes a stubbornly unclassifiable brand of indie rock that encompasses a huge array of styles, from angular post-punk to pillow-soft folk to jittery laptop pop. 'Red' is equal parts Elvis Costello and the Beach Boys without really sounding like either, while 'What You Need Is a Light' pairs the taut riffing of Pinback with the innocent melodicism of early Kinks. In many ways, Elba is an encapsulation of the current indie scene at large, a symptom of sprawling record collections condensed onto a single hard drive, where no influence—baroque, DIY, what have you—is avoidable during shuffle play. "
– Ned Lannamann – Portland Mercury
"Elba's got a kind of nervous energy that makes you want to dance, or at least pogo in place, when you first hear them. Even their chill-out songs, like 'At Your Feet,' with its relatively calm trumpet laid over the dithering guitar lines, feels frantic, like the band members have had way too many super-large gas-station coffees in way too short a time. Ordinarily this isn't the kind of feeling I'd enjoy in a band, but their jangly-nerve assault works because Elba don't seem to be working the audience up to a destructive lather; the journey to excitability is its own reward. Hyperactivity has never felt so cool."
– Paul Constant – The Stranger
– Seattle Subsonic
"ELBA with Gabriel Mintz, The Quit @ The Crocodile
This show will serve as the release party for local band Elba's new EP Diplodocus. Elba play indie rock with a unique Western vibe to it, almost like an early-Modest Mouse if they were from the desert, mixed with a more forceful, driving Edward Sharpe. Throw some Pixies in there too, perhaps. Questionable comparisons aside, they rock and I feel like the Diplodocus album cover is a pretty good representation of the EP's sound. Take that for what you will. (8 pm, $8, 21+)"
– KEXP Blog
"High-volume indie-rock quintet Elba has seen plenty of shifts since beginning as a trio in 2005, but its guitar-driven melodies accented with bass crescendos, cymbal crashes, and understated vocals have only grown. And though five-track Diplodocus was recorded near the end of 2009, more roster shakeups delayed the release--and any shows since then--until tonight.
Coming back after taking a year off means Elba is starting from scratch in many respects. But they're already in the process of recording their new record, and the outfit has big plans--including translating its notably high-volume and high-energy performances onto wax. They may not have seen commercial success, but if nothing else, their years of playing small venues for small crowds have created a good sense of humor, evidenced by their propensity to discuss 1995 Ben Stiller flick Heavy Weights and British anarcho-rock band Chumbawumba."
– Nick Feldman – The Seattle Weekly
"As The Dismemberment Plan, the Pixies and Modest Mouse rank among our list of favorites, we've been paying close attention to Seattle's Elba, who cites those three bands as some of their major influences. If you too are a fan of The D. Plan's polyrhythms or Frank Black's choppy, boyish vocal style, we bet you'll enjoy tonight's album release show at the Crocodile.
If that weren't enough, the always entertaining, enormously talented Gabriel Mintz will take the stage after local power-pop favorites The Quit. Get to the Croc early, as we recommend all three bands in this, the liveliest Seattle showcase of the week."
– Seattle Live Music Blog
"Elba won't celebrate the release of their second album Don't Be Discouraged, Little Sparrow until their homecoming Seattle show at the beginning of August, but you'll be able to hear tunes from the new record as they swing through Portland on their current West Coast jaunt. Elba makes a stubbornly unclassifiable brand of indie rock that encompasses a huge array of styles, from angular post-punk to pillow-soft folk to jittery laptop pop. 'Red' is equal parts Elvis Costello and the Beach Boys without really sounding like either, while 'What You Need Is a Light' pairs the taut riffing of Pinback with the innocent melodicism of early Kinks. In many ways, Elba is an encapsulation of the current indie scene at large, a symptom of sprawling record collections condensed onto a single hard drive, where no influence—baroque, DIY, what have you—is avoidable during shuffle play. "
– Ned Lannamann – Portland Mercury
"Elba's got a kind of nervous energy that makes you want to dance, or at least pogo in place, when you first hear them. Even their chill-out songs, like 'At Your Feet,' with its relatively calm trumpet laid over the dithering guitar lines, feels frantic, like the band members have had way too many super-large gas-station coffees in way too short a time. Ordinarily this isn't the kind of feeling I'd enjoy in a band, but their jangly-nerve assault works because Elba don't seem to be working the audience up to a destructive lather; the journey to excitability is its own reward. Hyperactivity has never felt so cool."
– Paul Constant – The Stranger