It’s common nowadays for band to take inspiration from old school rock and roll groups like Greta Van Fleet for example. It isn’t often, however, that you hear not only those roots glow through the music, but also in the production. Elevator Boots, Counting Crows’ newest single, is straight from 1968, and no one can convince me otherwise.

Immediately, the listener will notice the distinct production that’s so similar to southern rock of the era. The dry production, the gritty drums, the punchy bass, everything’s there. There’s heavy, obvious panning on the instrumentation, which is such a specific detail that’s pertinent to pretty much all music that’s forty years or older. It made me all the more impressed with Counting Crows’ dedication to the tone. The entire band really does a wonderful not only sounding true to the genre, but their composition skills are absolutely wonderful. Despite relying on all these gimmicks and sounds, they still find ways to make it sound very interesting, especially in its drive. It has a groove accompanied by such a gripping melody. The best part, however, is the pre-chorus for me. The harmonies bring a minor twist to the composition, and serves as a wonderful gateway into the infectiously catchy chorus. There’s a daring, quite long chromatic run up to the root of the first chord of the chorus at the end of the pre-chorus, and that for me was just the cherry on top of the chorus. Everything from start to finish seems so meticulously crafted both to suit their vision and to create a wonderful song. At the end of the day, Elevator Boots isn’t reliant on those gimmicks, though they help. Seeing this live would complement the tone they were going for even more, as I’m sure the song would sound a great deal more energetic, just as bands did back in the day.

Elevator Boots is a wonderful song that makes no attempt to blend in to modern music. It’s a straight gateway into the music that inspired rock and country of today, and would camouflage itself brilliantly amongst its inspirations. The production is authentic, and quite genius, and makes for an interesting addition to 2021’s catalog of new singles. The song has definitely put Counting Crows on my radar, as I’m sure it will to you as well. And hey, maybe you should show this to your parents as well. I have a feeling they’ll dig it too.

Author: Nicholas Gaudet

Music producer and writer from Dieppe, Canada.