Cage the Elephant Nearly Committed 'Band Suicide' Before Second Album - Spinner

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Growing up is tough to do when you're in a rock 'n' roll band, asCage the Elephantfound out. The Bowling Green, Ky., band's 2009 debut has sold an impressive 400,000 copies in the States alone, but on their sophomore set, 'Thank You, Happy Birthday,' they don't necessarily take time to reflect on their recent success. If anything, it's quite the opposite.

"After really trying to control everything in my life, it just unraveled before my eyes,"Cage lead singer Matt Shultz tells Spinner."I had a huge hypocrisy in my own world. A lot of the songs are written about that, discovering that."

As previously noted, 'Thank You, Happy Birthday' takes on a host of influential '80s and '90s rock influences, from theButthole Surfers, thePixiesandPavement, and was actually recorded before US audiences became widely familiar with the group. They spent a long time in England, penning songs before returning stateside, only to scrap everything from those lengthy sessions."We were close to band suicide,"Shultz says."We were all ready to drink the Kool-Aid at once, together."

Those itching for some new Cage got a taste this past November when the stuttery, 'Shake Me Down' was released. But it's the bass driven, Weezer-inspired song 'Aberdeen' that Shultz says works as a great indication of the band's more grown-up sound."I had this personal revelation,"he says.""I'd continue to see myself go back to the same thing that enslaved my life; over and over, putting my hands in the fire, even after I realized what I was doing to myself and the people around me."

'Thank You, Happy Birthday' is due out Jan. 11 on Jive.

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