Thursday, April 17, 2008

The Cave Singers

So I have been getting into this band lately called the Cave Singers. They are pretty dope and I would recommend anyone reading this to at least check them out on youtube....they have a few things there. They are signed on Matador records, the label that released Pretty Girls Make Graves when they were still around. I mention this becuase the bassist from Pretty Girls Make Graves is the guitar player for this band.
The band itself is a three-piece, with Derek Fudesco playing the nylon string guitar, and Marty Lund providing the percussion. The real exception to your typical indie-trio is Pete Quirk (a very apt surname) who is the singer and lyricist for the band. He plays melodica, harmonica, and whatever percussive instruments are needed to fill out the sound. And fill out the sound he does.
I heard about this band in a very random way; well random for me at least. I have been a big Pretty Girls Make Graves fan since '02 when they released their self-titled debut. They went on to release two more albums under Matador records before eventually calling it quits amid conflict within the band (i'm assuming that part. Isn't that why all bands eventually break up???), forming a spawn of bands in their wake. I've always been partial to the bass player, so this was the first stop I made in rediscovering my life after Pretty Girls Make Graves. I expected to hear some sort of neo-dance/indie type band. The kind with fashionable hair....the kind that is so big right now. What I got was so much more.
The band posts in their bio page on matador reecords that, "They never listened to much folk music, they never intended to play folk music, and more importantly, their guitarist never picked up the instrument until recently." I think that definitely comes across in their music. I would not label this as simply "folk". Having elements of a certain style and being a part of that genre are two very different things, and folk musicians and fans have very strict criteria for labeling something as "folk" (that is AMERICAN folk, as opposed to European folk, Irish folk, Japanese folk and the myriad other types of folk music, each with their own instruments and sensibilities). The band AT LEAST has developed a unique style that could not be put into an easy category. This is probably what attracts them to me.
The first song I heard of theirs, was a tune called "Dancing On Our Graves." Like many Pretty Girls Make Graves' songs this one has haunting lyrics punctuated by a jaunty guitar hook that provides the backbone of the song. Fudesco seems to be happiest as the backbone of a song, he played that part so well in Pretty Girls Make Graves. Fudesco is not what attracts me to this song though. The singing by Pete Quirk is really what gives this song its edge. He seems to be channeling the spirit of some bygone minertown preacher, warning all those who enter his bizarre ghost town to pay heed. He adds an element of soul to the song, which would otherwise sound something like a heartbeat trying to catch up to itself.
the other songs I've heard of theirs are decent enough to warrant buyign the whole album, but nothing matches up to the intensity of "Dancing On Our Graves"

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