3. Cage The Elephant - Melophobia
Cage the Elephant is a band that the Rock n Roll desperately needed. They bring a low-fi 90's alternative sound to a mainstream that has been flooded with generic, for lack of a better term, "butt-rock". Their 3rd album shows the band further honing their signature sound without straying too far from their path. While their second album was highly shaped by their musical influences, for their follow up they decided to completely shut themselves out from the musical world, hence the title Melophobia (fear of music). The strength of this album is that it is all over the place. I obviously mean that in the best way possible. Whether you like the Oasis-like falsetto harmonies on "Spiderhead" and Alisson Mosshart guesting on "It's Just Forever", or you dig the "Strokesy" sounding "Take It Or Leave It". You can even find a spoken word at the end of "Teeth"! Those are all influences that I personally hear when listening to the album but at the same time, Cage the Elephant are able to make these songs sound like they can only be by them.