Elephant Gym
Taiwan’s Accidental Response to an Ok Boomer Generation
“Are-are you a fan?” asked the wiry 20-something standing next to my father. There were a lot of wiry 20-somethings standing next to my white-haired dad in the crowded club in West Hollywood.
“Yep!” he responded with a smile. The younger returned the smile, both enthusiastic and incredulous.
“Hmm,” said the young man, and with an extraordinarily poignant piece of observation, added “you don’t fit the typical age profile.”
They were seeing Elephant Gym: a three piece math rock group hailing straight from Taiwan making their mark via an extensive US tour riding high off of their most recent album, Underwater (2018). With both bass and electric guitars playing counter-melodies over each other, virtuosic drumming, complex time signatures, key changes, and oftentimes lyricless songs, Elephant Gym seems like a veritable who’s who of complexity, cerebrality, and, yes, a decidedly older musical taste.
But, then again, they were featured prominently on the bill for Camp Flog Gnaw. That’s right: Tyler, the Creator gave the masses Elephant Gym and the patrons of one of the most Generation Z-friendly festivals of the year loved them. So, how did a band playing music that my dad likes also come to enjoy mainstream success with a younger crowd?
“It feels light,” said 23-year old David Zemeckis, a Cal student who saw Elephant Gym play in San Francisco. And that’s the thing—it’s heady music that, unlike its progressive rock ancestors of the 1970s, doesn’t feel too bogged down with complexity. While there are strange polyrhythms that mark every song, they are not working to confuse the listener and force them to focus on the musical prowess of the performers; instead they work together to create a floating sensation with bass-driven resolve that focuses not on the fantastical dark stories of progressive metal bands (i.e. Yes, Led Zeppelin, Rush, etc.), but on doing things that simply are good vibes.
Elephant Gym bridged the gap between a younger generation and an older one, bringing commonality between Generation Z and Boomers, taking the animosity out of the meme. At the concert my dad attended, there was serious respect for my him—who is very much a boomer—from the young audience, and there was much appreciation from my dad in return. This unification is an accidental one from the young band: “We just want to make happy music,” said bassist KT Chang as she nervously addressed the small audience at the Roxy. “Happy music” to Elephant Gym is both complex math rock tantalizing an older generation that prizes intricate, thematic, and musically progressive tracks, as well as light, listenable pieces fostering a good feeling that appeals more to a younger generation. Of course, this feat has been accomplished unconsciously, and Elephant Gym is purely just making “Happy Music,” but to my dad and his new, younger friends at the Roxy that night, that makes it all the better.
Written by Luke Dominick