I'd never heard of The Cave Singers before listening to this album. This is a First Album For Me. Two songs in I was sure they were a folk band. And then boom, 'Black Leaf'. Blues rock. Say what you will, but soft bucolic folk and riff-driven rock and roll with distorted vocals just happens to go really well together. Cheese and onion, if you will. Apparently this is all a part of the Seattle music scene at the moment. Basically I don't give a shit about any of that because Fleet Foxes are supposed to be the epicentre of this roots-folk revival there and I don't care for Fleet Foxes. What I care for is the range of instrumentation that The Cave Singers employ here to do their thing.
'Gifts and the Raft' with some sweet vocal harmonies set off to a violin and a building drum part. 'Swim Club' does the summery nostalgic finger picking that we're going to see on a car commercial sometime soon I'm sure, and I'll be god damned if that isn't a washboard in there too. On 'Falls' they've got a trumpet and an organ playing off the electric guitar's rhythm-making. In 'Haller Lake' there's a solo that belongs to what I'm pretty sure is a melodica. 'Haystacks' has a harmonica.
Not that these guys are all virtuosi at all these instruments: they're not. By and large the 'extra' instruments have only very simple, basic melodic functions in the song. But that's all that's needed to make a song stand out from every other blues-roots-folk-indie-country-rock band that's apparently out there making ordinary Americana music. The fact that the rhythm and percussion sections are solidly built, and the guitarists definitely know their business, makes a solid foundation for this album. Everything else is delicious icing.
Oh, and vocals. The harmonies are really well done in places. Definitely check out 'Haystacks', with its gospel chorus contrasting up against the raspy smoke-too-much verse vocals. The only real problem here is that because of lead singer Pete Quirk's vocals and the bluesy distortion they get put through, I can barely understand what's being said a lot of the time, which really does take away from my enjoyment of this album. There are some slow points in this album, like 'Distant Sures', but the songs are different and varied enough that you're very rarely bored by it. There's always going to be some new variation on the folking and the bluesing up next to keep you listening.
Four stars.
MP3: The Cave Singers - Swim Club
MP3: The Cave Singers - No Prosecution If We Bail
'Gifts and the Raft' with some sweet vocal harmonies set off to a violin and a building drum part. 'Swim Club' does the summery nostalgic finger picking that we're going to see on a car commercial sometime soon I'm sure, and I'll be god damned if that isn't a washboard in there too. On 'Falls' they've got a trumpet and an organ playing off the electric guitar's rhythm-making. In 'Haller Lake' there's a solo that belongs to what I'm pretty sure is a melodica. 'Haystacks' has a harmonica.
Not that these guys are all virtuosi at all these instruments: they're not. By and large the 'extra' instruments have only very simple, basic melodic functions in the song. But that's all that's needed to make a song stand out from every other blues-roots-folk-indie-country-rock band that's apparently out there making ordinary Americana music. The fact that the rhythm and percussion sections are solidly built, and the guitarists definitely know their business, makes a solid foundation for this album. Everything else is delicious icing.
Oh, and vocals. The harmonies are really well done in places. Definitely check out 'Haystacks', with its gospel chorus contrasting up against the raspy smoke-too-much verse vocals. The only real problem here is that because of lead singer Pete Quirk's vocals and the bluesy distortion they get put through, I can barely understand what's being said a lot of the time, which really does take away from my enjoyment of this album. There are some slow points in this album, like 'Distant Sures', but the songs are different and varied enough that you're very rarely bored by it. There's always going to be some new variation on the folking and the bluesing up next to keep you listening.
Four stars.
MP3: The Cave Singers - Swim Club
MP3: The Cave Singers - No Prosecution If We Bail
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