One of the founding bands of the legendary Athens, Georgia Elephant 6 collective (the band features alumni of Olivia Tremor Control, Of Montreal, and Neutral Milk Hotel), Elf Power has been performing and recording since 1994. They’ve toured with such notables as Wilco, Guided by Voices, R.E.M., Flaming Lips and Neutral Milk Hotel (with whom they shared a member in Laura Carter). In addition to keeping themselves busy with steady touring, Elf Power have recently lent their musical prowess to folk rock legend Vic Chesnutt, backing him on his new album due out in the fall.

Members of Elf Power also own and operate Orange Twin Records, an independent record label focused squarely on the local community; besides earlier Elf Power albums, Orange Twin has also released records by Neutral Milk Hotel, The Gerbils, Madeline and many other stalwarts of the vibrant Athens scene. A percentage of proceeds generated by the label helps fund The Orange Twin Conservation Community, which owns 155 acres of beautiful land on the outskirts of Athens and has initiated the development of a highly progressive, self-sustainable and ecologically-minded cluster village and nature preserve.

This sort of thoughtful, perpetual motion through the years has sharpened the band’s instincts powerfully and all-inclusively, and the results are joyously evident here; with “In a Cave,” Elf Power finds a perfect synthesis of their solid, instinctual ensemble playing and open-hearted experimentation, and the result is one of the best, most assured records to come soaring out of Athens in a long, long time.