Cage the Elephant Pen New Album in Isolation

Bowling Green, Ky.'s hardest rocking band, Cage the Elephant, are set to return early next year with their sophomore set, 'Thank You, Happy Birthday.' The band hunkered down at Nashville's Tragedy/Tragedy Studio in spring 2009 and recorded the 13-song set in a two-week burst, right around the time their eponymous debut was released in the United States.

"We initially were living in England and came up with 80 song ideas, some complete, some not," Cage the Elephant's Matt Shultz tells Spinner. "We started working on the second record and basically scratched all those ideas. There were a lot of things happening at that time; personal growth and growth as a band. We ended up renting some cabins at a lake in Kentucky and isolated ourselves in the middle of winter. No cell phone reception -- it kind of felt like 'Survivior.'"

Not only does Shultz cite maturation as a catalyst for the new material, the band was also inspired by the Pixies, Butthole Surfers, Black Flag, Violent Femmes and Gang of Four. When it came to their guitar playing, another band they discovered while living in London got their creative juices flowing: psych-punk act Screaming Tea Party.

"[They] changed our minds about how we wanted to make music," Shultz recalls. "It reminded me of Sonic Youth meets the Beach Boys meets helium balloons."

In preparation for 'Thank You, Happy Birthday,' the band will release a 7-inch on Nov. 26, featuring two new songs: 'Shake Me Down' and 'Aberdeen.'

Here is the full track list for 'Thank You, Happy Birthday':

'Always Something'
'Aberdeen'
'Indy Kidz'
'Shake Me Down'
'2024'
'Sell Yourself'
'Rubber Ball'
'Right Before My Eyes'
'Tangled'
'Sabertooth Tiger'
'Japanese Buffalo'
'Flow'
'Shiver'