Tuesday 10 November 2009

Cold Cave - Love Comes Close


With so many bands hitting on the Krautrock influenced button these days it's getting hard for the really talented bands to stand out in the huge haze of synthetic pop and catching people's attention involves actually having something different to bring to the table without ending up sounding like a retro band that would have been ok in the 80's but by todays standards just sound tired and insanely average.

Thankfully Cold Cave have that little extra flare that makes them a cut above the hoards of electro nonsense around at the moment (I'm naming no names) with ten synth pop songs that meet somewhere in the middle of 80's influenced dance and the dark brooding analogue sounds ala Gary Numan and early New Order. Love Comes Close, Cold Cave's debut album was originally released as a limited run through Wesley Eisold's own North American label earlier this year but demand was so high it sold out almost immediately.

They are a super group of sorts, starting out as a solo project for Wesley Eisold, a man who prior to Cold Cave had played for eminent American hardcore bands such 'Some Girls,' 'American Nightmare' and 'Give Up the Ghost' with it quickly evolving into a three piece with members Dominick Fernow (Prurient) and Caralee McElroy (Xiu-Xiu) making their mark. With huge amounts of influences seemingly ranging from any genre but electro or Krautrock it seems strange that these three have actually come out with an album that is full to the brim of catchy tunes, 'The Trees Grew Emotions and Died' and title track 'Love Comes Close' are prime examples of Cold Caves buzzy synths and duel vocals combining to make infectious songs free of pastiche. This is the sound of three unique individuals taking a complete U turn in their musical direction and succeeding.

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