Kicking off with "The Whip" and its barbed chorus, Elika's Trying Got Us Nowhere is best described as shoe-tronica, blending programming with organic field recordings and reverb effects. It can get a bit repetitive. "To The End" gets rather dull with the carrying on about "I'm not listening." I am listening, and it's like I'm stuck in a K-hole and I can't get out.

Taking that misstep in stride, the album is out-of-this-world in its layering of programming, field recordings, and guitars. Claiming influences such as Nico and Slowdive, the Brooklyn duo do their idols justice on this seven-track release.