11/12 - Cold Cave

What has two thumbs and the worst audio memory ever? This guy! There are downsides to this, to be sure. For instance, I could never ever ever in a million years hope to be a competitor on "Name that Tune!" - even if I found the time machine that would take me back far enough to make that even a remote possibility. And, karaoke in my world is Japanese for "Holy Shit I Totally Don't Remember How This Song Goes!" But, it has its upside as well. It means that sometimes I get to hear songs for the first time at least 10 times before they'll stick. Think about that for a second. Imagine one of your very favorite songs, and think about what it would feel like to hear it for the first time all over again. What a great feeling! In that sense, audio amnesia can be pretty sweet.

Cold Cave has been the victim of my aural void for a while now. Some time ago, I read something somewhere about them, listened to them and bought some downloads. Then I put one on a mix, and every single time it comes up I say to myself (or to someone next to me), "Who is this? I like it!" Same answer every time - Cold Cave. Song: Life Magazine. And it rules. This week I heard it on a commercial and thought, "shit." But at least it reminded me to remind myself who sang it.

Cold Cave is from Philly, which is really not a place I would normally associate with frosty stygian soundscapes. Philly always seemed a little beefier to me. But Cold Cave has crossed to the West Coast pretty strongly given that the new hipster record store down the street from me had their new 12" displayed front and center with the kind of loving care usually reserved for the likes of Grizzly Bear. And in a startling turn of events, I can say that Cold Cave is the first band I've heard since the Knife whose name is the perfect description of their music.

They've been around for a while, but the herky-jerky electro fuzz of their earlier efforts has seen a very satisfying evolution in the new work. It's turned dark, stark and lush in only the best ways.