On their latest single, “Riverview #3”, the Canadian four piece garage-rockers Elk sing elated lines of summertime nostalgia: “Sometimes I get myself lost in you / and wont you take me down to the river view.” Strewn together with lazy, yet brawny, Strat-tastic licks and surf-rock snare, by the time you’ve gotten through all 2 minutes and 47 seconds you might as well call it a day and head down to the beach. You’ll find similar vibrancy on their first self-titled release, which was cut back in February 2010 and is available on their bandcamp site for only $6 ($4 for the digital download). The group have since released their Balm Beach EP, which was the first release for the Saint Catherines, ON label IndoorShoes, and tracks of it like “Shaking Hands” recapture all the energy of their first. Lead singer Michael Price’s angsty vocals (think Ty Segall) are fervent as he trills, “My hands are shaking for you / but my words are failing.” What’s great about Elk is that they bring all the catchy stylings of indie punk, but take the extra step to coat their tracks in layers of well-crafted songwriting.

If you’re feeling adventurous, it would behoove you to shuffle off to Toronto in two weeks to see them play the buffaBLOG co-presented Official NXNE Day Party Music Showcase at the Horseshoe Tavern on Queen Street, along with Buffalo local outfits Son of the Sun and The Tins, and many others on June 14. Did I mention it’s free? Check out the Facebook event page for more information and remember to invite your friends! In the mean time, check out this awesome video of Elk playing "Before The Sun", an unreleased track from a new LP that the group is currently working on.