In case you're not up to speed on this interesting band and the communal phenomena known as Elephant 6 Recording Company. Down in the magical musical Mecca or Athens Georgia a scene evolved in the early nineties that spawned a number of like-minded lo-fi indie bands (Elf Power has evolved from the second wave of the movement and their latest incarnation is kind of an amalgam of bands (Neutral Milk Hotel, the Olivia Tremor Control, the Glands) to name a few that have come up through the farm system.

It is literally a farm system as many of the bands live on a commune (a 150-acre spread of land on the outskirts of Athens that the members are turning into a self-sustained, village and nature preserve that is both a record label and a conservation group called Orange Twin. In any case Elf Power has been around for nearly a decade and released 6 records that range from post-punk angst to trippy psychedelic, to 2002's concept album Creatures. This new release Walking With the Beggar Boys finds the band swapping members like communal dwellers will and changing their sound in such a drastic way has not only confounded many of their long-time fans, but has simplified their sound down to a straight-forward pop-oriented approach that has (wouldn't you know it) landed them a good bit of national attention.

If you think Kid A was a departure from O.K. Computer, Elf Power have literally transformed into a different band. We're talking about a group that once released a song called "Simon (The Bird With the Candy Bar Head). Joining founding frontman Andy Rieger, multi-instrumentalist and ex-Neutral Milk Hotel member Laura Carter, and drummer Aaron Wegelin, formerly with Olivia Tremor Control, and Craig McQuiston from the Glands. All of which sounded like an Elephant 6 super-group. I envisioned Phish fronted by Robin Hitchcock and Syd Barrett. Yet, in a rather bizarre twist Walking With the Beggar Boys is eerily restrained, gone is the experimental indulgence and in it's place is a rather smart little pop record. The title track, a strange tale about meeting with a gang of beggar children in Warsaw, is a straight-ahead Southern rocker featuring the skewed warble tenor of fellow Georgian Vic Chesnutt. (The guy in the wheel-chair in Sling Blade in case you're not familiar with one the South's little treats.) The leadoff single, the instantly gratifying "Never Believe," sets the tone for a set of eleven songs full of smart mid-60's sounding British pop that is actually something of a return to the style they started with a decade ago. With repeated spins one realizes that they haven't abandoned their aesthetics so much as they've just reigned it in. My favorite track is the banjo-led "Empty Pictures," a bittersweet countrified lament about the moment when all wide-eyed idealistic dreamers have to accept a few of life's inevitable realities. These guys are a terribly under-rated band and I think what they've done here is accepted the fact that in order to be recognized for what they do, they were going to have to meet the world half way. So go meet them.