https://aeafanzine.blogspot.com/2017/12/single-review-elefantkiller-santa.html

It’s always bound to happen at this time: the inevitable holiday parody. Aside from the obvious songs like Spinal Tap’s Christmas With The Devil I’ve heard many over the years, some obligatory, some memorable. A web search revealed more of the same, though some still stand out like one by the Nihilistics. As The Snowflakes Fell is naturally closer to the bah-humbug variety of holiday tribute songs (King Diamond, Fear, Denis Leary, Eric Idle), which given December’s consumer madness is a welcome diversion from the traditional saccharine-sweet sentiment we’re subjected to like clockwork. This is not to say I despise the holidays for those of you who deliberately take people’s words out of context and start arguments to get attention, but rather the corporate greed it generates besides the average consumer’s obsession to keep up with the Joneses when said holidays come around. To quote Bill Zebub in his indie feature Dirtbags: “We don’t need one day of the year to have a reason to be nice to each other.”

That being clarified, the brand new Elefantkiller single Santa Brought Me Coke is a holiday diversion I appreciated for its obvious drug reference and analogy between snow and cocaine. It has doubtless surfaced in many minds, and the band makes full use of the “if snow was coke” fantasy. Their Megadeth-meets-Suicidal Tendencies-meets-Fear thrash-hardcore crossover (or speed punk as they refer to it) makes for a theme reflecting the appeal of D.R.I. and Gang Green and the like. More band comparisons but they seemed appropriate here, especially where the narration is concerned. The first verse rap and the coke-hazed vocals in the chorus sound like a demented take on Mike Muir’s performance in Instituionalized. To make one more comparison, there is a section in the middle where the vocals reminded me somewhat of Paul Bearer’s attempt at singing on the Sheer Terror classics Ashes, Ashes and Burning Time. The whimsical tone intended for the song is clear from the bells at the start to the guitar riffs written for the verses and chorus to the atmospheric solo. If you check this cut out and want to hear more, the band is completing work on their new album Supersonic Blow Machine which is planned for release next year.

http://www.noflyzonemag.com/2017/11/28/elefantkiller-says-merry-xmas-with-santa-brought-me-coke-carol

Elefantkiller is a new band that’s been destroying New York City’s live music scene with their unique brand of mashable music and on stage performance which could only be described as “Speed Punk”. Guitarist and vocalist Enrique Nazario shreds away like a banshee atop of the tight rhythm section provided by bassist James Lane and drummer Big Z. Think of it as the razor sharp precision of metal Gods such as Metallica coupled with the reckless, unpolished tongue-in-cheek gymnastic like lyrics of Fear, no wait… better yet… Suicidal Tendencies! Know what I’m talking about, Brah?

No? Well then, let me break it down for you this way. It’s angry, relentless, disturbing; at times it’s distressing, volatile, explosive; then at other times muscular, sinewy and visceral. But it’s always fun, fun, fun and Daddy’s damn well not taking anyone’s f’ing T-Bird away. One band member, who insisted on remaining anonymous, put it this way, “We sing about breaking sh*t, war and death, cocaine crushing pills, and stabbing people that piss us the f**k off, all in the context of trying to deal with everyday life, which at times makes you want to engulf it in hate and fire!”

Wait???? Did someone just say something about cocaine? Damn straight they did, because Elefantkiller just debuted a little Christmas carol ditty they lovingly titled “Santa Brought Me Coke”. Not quite sure the cops would buy that alibi but as carols go it gives a new meaning to “White Christmas”. After offering a poetic comparison of newly fallen snow to Sigmund Freud’s and Sherlock Holmes’ favorite addictive substance they take it one Cheech and Chong step further by pointing out how the runners on the Fat Man’s reindeer drawn sled looks a lot like a razor blade resting on a mirror. Before you know it a very wired Old Saint Nick is hopping on the roof, bouncing down the fire escape (hey, this is a NYC band so forget about sliding down some freaking chimney) with a bulging bag of (can you guess?) COCAINE!

So what next could these poor boys do except shovel that snow into a few lines, snort some up the old nose, call some Ho-Ho-Ho’s and party like it’s 1999. “Santa Brought Me Coke” is a good way for Elefantkiller to wrap up 2017. Word on the street is that come 2018 they’ll be finishing and releasing their first album called “Supersonic Blow Machine”. Just say blow apparently is going to be a common thread running though their music so pick up a straw, clear your nose and go doe-see-doe because these tusk tugging troopers are going to be pretty, pretty, pretty hard to forget.