Dave Segal of The Stranger - Show preview for 5/9/09 at The Comet - Seattle quartet Elba play artful, melodic rock with surprising dynamics that may trigger some knee-jerk prog disdain. We like a lot of prog, so Elba are cool with us. But don't get it twisted: This ain't no Mars Volta-ic display of grandiose virtuosity. Elba write tight, tuneful songs that don't require music-school degrees or knowledge of esoteric myths to enjoy. Jack Rabid - Big-Takeover Magazine - Elba, as remembered from Modern European History class, is the Italian island in the Corsica Channel ‘twixt Tuscany and Corsica, where the Brits exiled Napoleon for 300 days—before escape, restoration, and Waterloo. But the musical trio Elba is hardly so banished, hailing from perennial musical hotbed Seattle. Furthermore, they sound like a nearby Portland staple on their warm, debut, brisk-pop LP. It’s in a zip code with the early Shins, Decemberists, Dimes, Modest Mouse, and departed patron saint Elliott Smith, only lighter—like New Zealand pop. They’re at their best, as on the onrushing “Wide Awake” and “An Avalanche,” or the superb 6/8 time “Ghosts” and accurately-titled “Waltz,” when they mix resonant piano or dour organ with unreserved jangling guitars and leader Nick Cappelletti’s James Mercer-esque enthusiastic, high-voiced, yelping (and often, funereal trumpet). But all 11 songs are worthwhile. Dig in! (myspace.com/elba)