The Next Next Big Thing?
by Shannon McCarthy

"The national dance of the Detroit scene is a beer in hand and a head nod. When we started playing out, people put down their drinks and started to dance. Once that happened, I knew this was going to be a fun band." Sean Ike is just one of (usually) nine members of Detroit's pre-eminent throwback soul revue, The Elevations - hell, they're the only throwback soul revue. He, like the rest of this mashed-together group, know how difficult it is for people in Detroit to put the cool posturing on hold and shake their asses without inhibition.

The Elevations are one of the most exciting bands playing in and around the city today, and if you haven't caught the act, you best prepare to get on board. They've brought something completely fresh to the Detroit rock scene: a sound reminiscent of that which ruled radio and clubs some 40 years ago. Striking up a pure '60s-soul attack, The Elevations deliver cuts and looks that are unabashedly retro, and the band (which includes a three- piece horn section) completes the package with two incredible vocalists: Erika Herron, a lovely young lady who belts out heart-torn-in-pieces ballads, and Ike, a skinny young man who pulls out all the James Brown- style dance moves he can muster while howlin' like he's going to explode. The sight of this ensemble onstage, dressed to the nines and sounding like 1963, is nothing if not invigorating.

The most fascinating thing about the band (or at least the hardest to believe) is that no one else is doing what they're doing - really, it's kind of shocking, especially when you think about how revival-centric the local scene has become. "The garage scene is so great," Ike says, "but I was like, 'What happened on the other side of the tracks in town at that time period?'" While the current heap of popular Detroit bands has found a rut paying homage to the heyday of garage and punk, The Elevations haven't forgotten the rich tapestry of soul and Motown, the other musical genres with strong Detroit associations. The idea of mining an untapped genre only made the band - Ike, Herron, Eric Stollsteimer (vibraphone/guitar), Jim Auge (bass), Joel Devonshire (drums), Jerry Berlongieri (keyboards), Jason Ledbetter (trumpet), Gabe Heiss (saxophone) and Ben Mancell (rhythm guitar/saxophone) - more excited and driven.

And people are already taking note. Greg Baise, talent buyer at the Magic Stick and Majestic, is one of those whose head has been turned by The Elevations' ingenuity. "They're doing something different - they're definitely capturing the spirit that kept the kids dancing all night in U.K. northern-soul clubs," he says. "They're undeniably catchy, upbeat and danceable. And there are so many of them - it always seems like such a feat when someone can orchestrate such a large rock group for a specialized purpose, and do such a good job at it."

When The Elevations were still a twinkle in Mancell's eye (he's the mastermind behind the ensemble and, ironically, is leaving the band to move to New York), he didn't exactly know which players would get his idea off the ground. He had Jim Auge, a former bandmate in the new-wave outfit Rael Rean and his friend Eric Stollsteimer (Freddy and the Fourgone Conclusions) as a core. But the group's signature - the double-vocal assault - would prove to be the piece de resistance.

The next recruit was Herron, who is also a go-go dancer in her brother esQuire's troupe. Her first stab at singing is with The Elevations, an astounding fact considering her vocal prowess.

The final addition to the roster was an instance of serendipity. Stollsteimer (the older brother of The Von Bondies' Jason Stollsteimer), met Ike through a friend of a friend one night and casually asked him to join the new group. No one could've known how deeply this decision would impact the band's sound and presentation.

Ike, a character in his own right, sticks out like a sore thumb in rock clubs - not only because of his outspoken personality, but his looks as well. Seeing him sweat through his suit, take hold of the microphone and belt through soul tunes - all the while slip sliding from the floor and back up with better moves than this city has scene in decades - well, it's simply something to behold. "I'm always dancing," he says. "Now that I'm in a band, it's specific to the type of music. I'm trying to pull off a James Brown-style, even though that's impossible!" Yet he comes closer to Brown's boogie than anyone else in these parts.

The Elevations are intent on turning this into the most exhilarating act Detroit has seen in decades. "The vision is essentially to revive the mid- '60s soul sound made popular by Motown and Stax," says Herron, the sole female in the group. "We wanted to combine the smoothness of the Detroit soul sound with the more aggressive southern soul sound and authentically revive it."

Based on looks and a brief description, The Elevations could easily be mistaken for any cover band that hangs around suburban restaurants or gigs in casinos. Trying to become the complete opposite to that image is actually something that was discussed upon formation. Most likely because some of the band's members have ties to Detroit's most buzzed-about rock bands, they've been able to avoid the bar-band stigma; in fact, they made their debut on a bill most upstarts would kill for, performing with The Von Bondies and The Dirtbombs at Ferndale's Magic Bag. What's that they say about it being who you know?

In terms of shaping a sound, the band has clearly studied Motown and Stax, as well as some more obscure folks who never made it that far. By combining the pop (Motown; think Edwin Starr) and grit (Stax; think Otis Redding or Joe Tex) of '60s soul with the all-night energy of the British northern- soul movement (which revived that music in the '70s), The Elevations remain faithful to the stylings of the era.

Although the band's set list includes a few covers, they, as Herron says, "have no intention of being a cover band." Mancell made the decision early on that if they opted to do anyone else's songs, they would be carefully chosen and steer clear of greatest hits. And he's kept his word: The band picks tunes and artists that most of us haven't even heard of. "It's a great genre that should be played and appreciated beyond just recycling the same songs we all know from the oldies stations," Herron explains. "We're creating original songs without modern-day twists because the genre stands on its own." Ike adds, "If you're going to play a cover in Detroit, you better play something that no one else knows." The group just recorded a bevy of originals at Freddy Fortune's studio Sound Camera East, and a new 45 will soon be available from D wreckED hiT (which has released vinyl for The Von Bondies and The Hentchmen).

Playing at only the city's best venues and gaining choice slots at outdoor festivals like TasteFest and the recent Fourth Street Fair, The Elevations have attracted all kinds of fans - black and white, young and old. While their main audience skews a little hipper right now, it shouldn't be long before the word on this band spreads, and casual concertgoers are drawn into joints like the Magic Stick to see what the fuss is about. Thanks to their unique flavor, The Elevations can get fiftysomethings dancing while Garage-Rock Fan No. 1 taps his foot just a few steps away - a phenomenon that astounds even the band. "We were just talking to The Go and they said we should go on tour with them. We were like, 'really?'" says Stollsteimer. "It was kind of surprising because they are so much of a rock thing. One thing I like about this band is that no matter where we play or who we play with, we always seem to go over well with the crowd."

The visceral energy the band creates onstage indeed emanates into the audience, and that's more valuable than gold to a startup band. When these nine people get dressed up and take the stage, they instantly bring a little more class to the clubs than some of us are used to seeing. As Herron's hips begin to sway, Ike's forehead begins to sweat and the horn section blows with all the driving power of a Mack truck, it becomes something not only fresh and aesthetically pleasing, but something raw, dirty, hot and exciting. Take it from me, a gal who sees quite a bit of live music: It'll be no time before your body gives in to the thrill. | RDW

Shannon has put down her drink and started to dance. Email shannon@getrealdetroit.com.