Cage the Elephant

Kentucky quintet Cage the Elephant puts out a flash-welded blast of classic-rock verve. Its funky, shuffling blues rhythms echo G. Love and Special Sauce with a garage-bred vibrancy reminiscent of the Hives, and singer Matt Shultz’s drawling rap-sing twang recalls the sneering delivery of Alex Turner (of Arctic Monkeys). The sheltered, Southern religious upbringing of siblings Matt and Brad Shultz has provoked comparisons with Kings of Leon, but those similarities are skin-deep. At heart, Cage the Elephant is a backyard kegger of rambunctious enthusiasm. Nothing matches the ragged swagger of “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked,” but the band’s self-titled debut is an infectious release.