Album Review
Cold Cave Love Comes Close Initial thoughts on an album likely to become a indie electro classic.
Cold Cave is the name for an electro-noise band formed by Wesley Eisold, who played with Brooklyn bands Give Up The Ghost, XO Skeletons and The Locust. He is joined by Xiu Xiu collaborator Caralee McElroy, Dominick Fernow of Pruient “fame” and author Max G Morton. The new album, ‘Love Comes Close’, is out in November. They’ve already received a great deal of attention, so here come some first impressions:
#1 Cebe And Me
0:08 The chord changes are exactly the same as that Whut Whut (In The Butt) song that did the rounds a few years ago.
01:07 Also very much like ARE Weapons, which is welcome. Vaguely threatening minor chords. Buzzing, chainsaw electro… Good, actually.
#2 Love Comes Close
04:55 This is basically exactly the same as Soviet, which is really good. What happened to them?
05:16 Highly strung guitars and vaguely melancholic singing over drum machines gets me every time.
#3 Life Magazine
8:22 This is the single, definitely. Barrel chested big CHORUS electro indie.
9:34 Heard this months ago – but here it just sounds so fucking heroic.
#4 The Laurels of Erotomania
12:18 Very nice, and I’m loving the interplay between boy and girl singers. Almost… naive.
12:51 I like how this is unfolding like a Proper Album. I think they’ve got their eyes on big things.
#5 Heaven Was Full
14:20 His voice gets a bit annoyingly baritone though. I think he might like Nick Cave.
15:23 The cover art is really fantastic. Interesting how much it references early eighties no wave, when the music references early noughties electroclash.
#6 The Trees Grew Emotions and Died
18:33 Another TUNE. nice, almost cloyingly sweet melody seemingly played with broken synths.
19:59 I’ve always like the way that early Depeche Mode records used synths that sounded like they were breaking. These sound the same. This electro is dirty and it might fall apart. It’s an old trick but here it sounds tremendous.
#7 Hello Rats
22:06 This song is very good and it’s nice that it ends quickly
#8 Youth and Lust
24: 15 Lyrics on the album so far have used the words “decay”, “marzipan”, “my girlfriend”, “neon acid rain”.
#9 I.C.D.K
26:09 Keep on waiting for the noise kick promised on earlier releases and will have to face that it’s just not coming. This is pop music, spasming, lawless and weird, but pop nonetheless. Fucking superb.
Love Comes Close is out on the 2nd November.
- 20.09.09
