Starting King Gizzard’s debut album with a bang, “Elbow” is a noisy, confrontational, but simple song that gets your blood flowing. It's a song about someone who sees themselves as a “big shot,” though they know that their provocations are only going to lead to pain. The lyrics are vague, but no doubt bitter. The band plays through heavy distortion on the song and chants “hey” throughout the choruses, giving the entire track a Ramones-like punk rock feel. That’s not to say, however, that “Elbow” is devoid of Gizzard’s flair, as the delayed guitars and unusual production choices set them well on their way toward a signature sound.

In a track-by-track rundown for Mess+Noise, Stu said the song was “one of the oldest tracks on the album. We played it for the first time at Meredith last year, but I think it was pretty different back then. I can’t really remember. It has a huge flange on the end of the track, which is funny.” According to a recording of 2011-12-31, pre-12 Bar Bruise versions of the song feature different lyrics following “you are such a big shot.” It received a single release on July 25th, 2012 on the band’s Soundcloud page (the link is no longer working). It was released on 12 Bar Bruise on September 7th, 2012 and was later used in promotional material for the 2018 reissues of the band’s early material.