Elevator Action

"Elevator Action have created a rocking CD that plows through 11 garage rock stompers in just over half an hour. These 30 minutes may not change your life, but you’re going to have a big grin on your face the whole time, sometimes in spite of yourself. Elevator Action approached this record with every intention of knocking one out of the park, and they’ve come very close with Society, Secret. The songs grab hold of you so forcefully."

- Performer Magazine

The indie arcade’s on fire from the sophomore CD by Elevator Action, a talented trio seemingly named after the popular 1980s video game. Look for these hot hipsters to rise to the alternative penthouse like label-mates the Talk (who were recently featured on Fox’s teen drama The O.C. Unlike similar contemporaries, Elevator Action’s record Society, Secret is diverse, containing raw songs like “The Pleasures All Mine” and warehouse pop like “Call Me Transistor.” Like a love child of Jack White and Karen O, Elevator Action contains edgy passion. This record is recommended for those camping at Coachella’s Mojave stage. Deirdre Walsh - Highbias.com

Elevator Actions second album, Society, Secret on indie MoRisen Records is the follow-up to their acclaimed debut, Its Just Addiction. With screaming guitars, ballsy vocals and a thundering rhythm section, Elevator Action is a garage band that is heavily influenced by punk and glam elements, and with a few exceptions, Society, Secret hits the gas pedal and doesnt let up. Songs like Surely You Know nd Nuvo are potent rockers, and Start a War is endearing in a Plimsouls-meets-Duran Duran sort of way. But some of the exceptions (Call Me Transistor and Vicious Hands) miss the mark in a big way, and that will temper some of this bands hype. This is probably one of those bands that puts on a better live show than what translates to record, but if youre looking for some cool music to put on at a party to get the chicks to shake their asses, this is one you should pick up. - Mike Farley - BullzEYE.com

The sophomore album by Elevator Action Society, Secret is like a combination of an amusement park thrill ride and fun house. The music consists of pure samples of rock, punk, pop and glam sounds. Combine that, with the gruff and edgy vocals, its like a dropped bottle of soda, that when opened, explodes into a wild scene of chaos. Now thats fun!

With 11 tracks of deserving awesomeness, each song delivered something exciting, unusual, stylish and energetic to the mix. Here are my most played. Surely You Know, Start AWar, The Pleasures All Mine, Common Days, and Vicious Hands spun me around faster than a freshly oiled seat on the "Tilt-A-Whirl especially with my humdinger favorites ranking in respectable at #1 and #2 Nuvo and Secret Society.

Elevator Actions Society, Secret becomes available on Tuesday, June 6th. Hey, thats just around the corner, so the wait isnt long at all, not like those thrill rides you have to wait for.

Reviewer: Lynda Dale MacLean new pop
Reviewer's Rating: 9 (out of 10)

- Celebritycafe.com

Manic Epsisode of Shopping/Cleaning/Making Out:
Elevator Action's "Society, Secret" (MoRisen) has enough dance-worthy energy to keep up with your joyful episodes spent racing around the mall, cleaning out your disaster of a closet, or fooling around with your new Mr./Ms. Right Now. - Zink Magazine

Elevator action is a trio from NC that has been making music together for several years. They began with a debut album in 2004 titled “It’s just addiction.” They are now releasing their 2nd album which is a delightful mix of garage pop, glam punk, and quality songwriting.
The album begins with a glam punk feel. “Surely you know” is nostalgic of the 1970’s. Somewhere between the sex pistols and gary glitter, "Nuvo" is a bit dirtier, where the deciding influence is front man and guitarist Eric Gilstrap's voice, which groans and croons into the microphone in a wonderfully impudent fashion.
The guitar moves into the foreground with “Start a war,” while “the pleasure’s all mine” features the bass played by Miss Laurie Ruroden. “Common days” plays once again with a fun punk sound. “Miss Congeniality” accommodates all aspects of music, which is not a simple task, as this track, and all others on the album are seldom longer than 3 minutes.
Whether it’s the guitar, bass, or the drums of James Donley, there is a beautiful interaction of instruments and voice in “Don’t Believe.” Gilstrap sounds a bit like Axel Rose and Laurie’s sweet voice comes on like a rockin’ chic.

“Call me transistor” wisks us away again into the wild 70’s. (dosen’t fit) More in line with the album is the title song, “Secret society.” The bass gives the song a quick beat, which is skillfully taken up by the guitar, and supported by the drums. “Vicious Hands” also builds on the two different singing styles of the vocalists.

Little flashes of B 52 here and throughout makes you feel like dancing. The album ends with a lazy SouthernStates sound, probably inspired by the trios hometown of Charlotte, NC.

So the album delivers a wide variety of sounds. It is produced by John Agnello, who has worked with Dinosaur Jr, Alice Cooper, the Lemonheads, and Jimmy Eat World.

The circumstances under which “Society, Secret” was created are quite memorable. Singer Eric Gilstrap lost his voice for two whole months, alcoholism, cutting and various relationship issues accompanied (supposedly) the creation of the album and is reflected in the lyrics. Despite all those problems, it is a fun album to listen to, and is packed with good rock songs.

- German source

EBLOGGER - (Elevator Action) I'm told that I'm the first blogger to talk about Elevator Action, which surprises me. I was initially intrigued by one of their mp3s, a song called Modern Sickness. It's not hugely different from songs by a lot of bands that have sprung up in the wake of the Strokes' success, but I took note that during the chorus, at the exact point where you'd expect some catchy little pop-punk hook, Elevator Action's lead singer instead decides to start screaming his lungs out. Always a good sign. Incidentally, I don't want that word "Strokes" to scare you away...it really is a good tune.    More importantly, it lead me to their album It's Just Addiction. Where I discovered that Elevator Action are possessors of a seriously world-class lead singer (Eric Gilstrap, who can go from Bowie to Bonn Scott in an eyeblink) and a track called Come On, Hate Me which is my favorite song of the last week-or-so. It features an amazing Lydia Lunch impersonation on the chorus, presumably by their bass player Laurie Ruroden (who should -- hint hint hint -- sing more).

They've got great raw material (basically a blend of Bowie, early punk r.o.c.k., and AC/DC) and great snarly/snarky attitude. Ultimately it's going to come down to production (nothing exactly wrong with this album, but I think they can do better), songwriting (they need to up the quality about one notch), and a dedicated Johnny Thunders-style lead guitarist wouldn't hurt. But, It's Just Addiction is a verypromising start. Although the band say that their CMJ NYC show wasn't so hot, I'd guess that they can really rip shit up live on a good night. - eblogger

Creative Loafing
(MoRisen)
 It's Just Addiction

From the opening riff of "Modern Sickness," Elevator Action crank the amps with raw 70s rock while giving stiff nods to, but not aligning with, later decades. The debut recording from the band (Eric Gilstrap, vocals, guitar; Laurie Ruroden, bass and vocals; Gary Guthrie, drums), It's Just Addiction, was produced by John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr., Mark Lanegan), and brings back vibes of a hip, defunct Brit band called Thee Hypnotics. The riffs rumble, soar and purposely crumble into rocking, yet melodic, defiance. Most songs are short. They are punked up, teased with psychedelics and surely rocking enough to be cut loose and played loud -- way loud. If "Fistful of Drugs" and "Come On Hate Me," don't get your socks sweaty, crank this baby to revisit those rocking days of youthful abandon. The track "Local Celebrities" has such a catchy sing-along chorus that it's a cryin' shame it can't be played on the radio. Otherwise it would clinch as an early summer anthem. (www.elevatoractionband.com)
 Grade: A--Samir Shukla


- Creative Loafing

The Crutch


Elevator Action, hey, like any other band they’ve got their ups and downs. Ba-dum-ching. These are the jokes, folks; my live act includes a rubber chicken.   I found out about Elevator Action when they “came down” (Thank you, I’ll be here in the fabulous Hotel Shalimar Tiki Lounge all week - don’t forget to tip your bartender!) to Carrboro from Charlotte, NC, to play a party at my house. All I really remember of their performance is Gary, front and center, banging the shit out of cymbals that seemed to be about ten feet in the air, Eric’s scorchingly fuchsia hair, and a prolonged blast of harmony laden, garagey punk rock - but give me a break, I was wearing a red feather boa and slogging cheap Merlot out of the bottle, you can’t expect me to remember every little thing. Honestly, I was loaded and they could have been playing gypsy Klezmer ska for all I knew - but I liked it. The next day, after filling ten bags with trash and heading out for coffee, I popped Elevator Action’s self-titled EP into the CD player and discovered I was right - three tracks of classic pop-punk - and was relieved to find out that I had not, in fact, rocked out to gypsy Klezmer ska, whatever the hell that would be.   Pop-punk gets a bad rap. In modern parlance, it refers not to punk rock inflected with pop in the figurative sense (i.e. melody and harmony), but in the literal sense (shorthand for popular, which, I hate to sound elitist, but let’s not shit ourselves: when regarding rock music, often means low-brow whiny emo-crap for rich, popular suburban kids). In a strange lexicographical twist, today’s most famous pop-punk bands have nothing to do with pop or punk, and are miles away from rock - equally unfamiliar with the contributions of MC5, The Stooges and The Beach Boys, their music is informed by the other “pop-punk” bands they were weaned on. Good Charlotte may say they love The Clash, and maybe they do, now, but one couldn’t tell it from their music - you know their formative years were filled with Blink 182 and NOFX. Without historical roots, these bands’ super-clean, generic power chord structures and soulless, overwrought vocals breach the realms of neither pop nor punk, remaining stuck between floors (OK, last elevator pun, I promise), as it were, in the no-man’s-land of image advertisement.   Now that we’ve made that distinction, I can say without fear of being misunderstood that Elevator Action play pop-punk - the real deal, with actual fully assimilated pop and punk standards showing through. Over the three tracks on their self-titled EP, Ramones-style punk with a little Detroit hitch and gallop dovetails seamlessly with doo-wops, pristine vocal harmonies, dramatic vocal and guitar surges straight out of the Velvet Underground, and totally sparkling Brian Wilson moments. This demo has a lo-fi yet up-front production value that suits the music to a T, and is, contrary to some of today’s self-serious garage rock, actually fun - something you’d want to dance around to with your friends while drinking beer on a Sunday afternoon, belting out the harmonies and ironically dancing The Shopping Cart or The Swim. You can track this down on the web - I’m not going to print their e-mail address, but if you want a copy and can’t find one, drop me a line and I’ll put you in touch. Soon enough these guys are releasing their full-length debut on the MoRisen label, after which I assume they may be abandoning the house party circuit and *ahem* - going up (damn, I really thought I was done after that last one). Get on board - The Crutch