Elephants and Stars

For half a decade, Elephants and Stars have occupied a distinctive space in Canadian independent music: literate without pretension, political without sloganeering, and melodic without sacrificing urgency. Across a catalogue of emotionally-charged records and high-energy live performances, they built a rep as one of the country’s most compelling underground rock acts - earning devotion through relentless songwriting, word-of-mouth momentum, and songs that hit both the gut and the conscience. That evolution reaches a new peak with Philistine Vulgarity, their latest full-length album, produced by Ron Hawkins, the legendary frontman of Lowest of the Low. Hawkins brings sonic clarity and emotional intensity to the project, sharpening the qualities that have always defined this band: passion, confrontation, humanity, and melody. The title itself speaks volumes. Philistine Vulgarity confronts political violence, alienation, economic anxiety, and emotional exhaustion while refusing to lose sight of empathy, connection, and survival. Echoes of classic punk, heartland rock, post-hardcore, and alternative rock run throughout the record, but the songwriting remains rooted in storytelling and emotional truth rather than genre exercise. Single “Take It All” serves as a mission statement : an explosive, hook-heavy anthem balancing frustration and catharsis. It encapsulates what they do best: transforming anxiety, anger, and exhaustion into something communal and exhilarating.