Cage the Elephant tunes out the static

June 2, 2016 at 12:05a.m.

Self-sabotage has been the downfall of many careers.

Whether it’s drug use, creative insecurity, or a mixture of both, the rock ’n’ roll highway is littered with one-hit wonders and bands that presumably had the talent to last a generation but quickly fell to the wayside.

For rock band Cage the Elephant, self-sabotage came in a different form: sibling rivalry. Guitarist Brad Shultz said even though the Kentucky group has been on a steady rise for the better part of the past decade, it became increasingly clear he and lead-singer brother Matt needed a different approach to survive.

“I think we went through times of self-sabotage,” said Shultz, calling from Nashville. “With our first record, we were kind of young and naive. We made a record just to play house parties and chill with our friends. Then for the second record, we started feeling pressures from the outside, not only just the business aspect of it but as musicians.

“We let a lot of other people’s perceptions get into our head, and we created this subconscious fear that we didn’t want to make the wrong move. On ‘Melophobia,’ we had to break that thinking, kind of rediscover our voice and not worry about what the outcome from other people was going to be.”

Apparently, that was the right move. Coming off its platinum-selling 2008 hit single “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked,” from Cage the Elephant’s self-titled debut album, the Shultz brothers honed their sound on 2013’s “Melophobia,” which includes two No. 1 alternative chart songs, “Come a Little Closer” and “Cigarette Daydreams.”

It was during the tour support of “Melophobia” that the seeds of Cage the Elephant’s new album, “Tell Me I’m Pretty,” were planted. While opening for the Black Keys, the band became close to Akron singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach, who in his free time produced other acts.

Shultz said the band formed a bond with Auerbach regarding music and theories on recording, production and songwriting. The Cage the Elephant brothers also casually mentioned demos they had been putting on their phone.

Then one day Auerbach asked to hear the material. Next thing the band knew, he signed up to produce “Tell Me I’m Pretty.”

“It kind of naturally evolved,” Shultz said. “I think what Dan brought to the table was he had a very keen ear on finding the stronger piece of the song and maybe pulling back some of the weaker parts that kind of mask the bones of the song. Because another fault that we fall into is being so competitive with each other, we always want our parts in the song.

“Dan was able to kind of sift through the weaker, unnecessary parts, strip those back and allow the bones of the song to speak.”

The result is “Tell Me I’m Pretty,” which features the best batch yet of Cage the Elephant tunes. Lead single “Mess Around,” already a No. 1 alt-radio hit, boasts a catchy sound, while other songs display the group’s evolution: “Too Late to Say Goodbye” is a midtempo bluesy affair, while the psychedelic-tinged “Cold, Cold, Cold” could be the group’s high-water mark to date with a blistering Shultz solo.

Invariably, Cage the Elephant’s ’90s alternative sensibility in a musical landscape that seemingly lacks peers often positions the band as saviors of the genre that Neil Young once said would never die.

Whether or not rock is dead, Shultz doesn’t want to hear about Cage the Elephant’s responsibility to keep it alive.

“I think rock ’n’ roll is a spirit, and people put too much weight on what the sound of it is actually supposed to be. I don’t want to be tagged as the savior of rock ’n’ roll or that we’re trying to set up rock ’n’ roll for the future.

“It’s just what we do.”