Elvis Perkins

Vaughn Garland is a legend among men. He is a living, breathing, and occasionally coughing archetype of the modern American artist. I mean, for the love of St. Andrew, the man only dresses in black, brown, white, and gray—though there are occasional floral flourishes. That said, this man of powerful hair-styling traditions and oil paint solvents has taken it upon himself to throw some serious musician recommendations my direction. As they say down Mexico way, muchas gracias.

First among the group is Elvis Perkins. That’s right, he has the same name as the “King.” Let me tell you what I know. Or, rather, what I think I know. I am not recommending you use me as a reference. Bastards.

Elvis Perkins has a smooth, lightly jazzy, semi-U2, quasi-Bob Dylan sound. He can obviously play a guitar like an S.O.B. but he does so only with extreme restraint—you won’t notice it if you don’t think about it—so do. He’s from Rhode Island (which is a state). His band is Dearland. And his website, while cool, doesn’t tell you $#@&. This fact, however, is made up for by virtue of the fact that it has a substantial number of mp3-esque action going down, wikkity-wack.

Hit up Perkins' homepage. Listen to “Ash Wednesday,” “Without Love,” and especially “While You Were Sleeping.”

Quotable lines (from “Without Love”):

I once caused your cells to shimmer
And you once caused my cells to shimmer
Now we all go the night without love

Ah, breakup music.