Review: Elefant

Review: Elefant

Elefant "The Black Magic Show": Aidin Vaziri | Elefant's previous album, "Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid," was such a pale imitation of the Strokes' "Is This It" that it actually felt like something new. Sadly, the trick doesn't work the second time around. The introspective '80s British pop influences that bubbled under the foppish New York band's debut have been cast aside for a tougher, leaner sound on "The Black Magic Show," as sharp riffs and mechanical beats move to the fore while singer Diego Garcia unfurls a set of lyrics so ridiculous you could swear he swiped them from Kajagoogoo ("Kiss me like they do in movies/ Modern child of the night," he deadpans on "Lolita"). A couple tracks that pick up where the first disc left off, like "Brasil" and "Don't Wait," offer some hope but mostly the magic is gone.