Cave In – Perfect Pitch Black (Hydra Head)
My main thought when considering this album is a positive one. I choose not to dwell on the opinion I have that this is far from their best (2000s amazing Jupiter), and instead on the fact that this album very nearly didn’t exist.
Word got out at some point in 2005 that, after issues numerous and rather predictable with their major label, Cave In had actually called it a day. Granted their last album, Antenna, wasn’t great, but it apparently had RCA oar-sticking. Besides, it’s never nice to lose a good rock band [obligatory Kerbdog shout-out].
So, some time after demos leaked, the band was back with their original home, Hydra Head, for this independently created album. While the mass-market media machine was no longer behind them (fat lot of good it did them anyway), they were where they could record what they wanted without suits peering over their collective shoulder.
Whatever the factors surrounding Antenna, Cave In’s latest is no return to their peak. There are no bad songs. The album is not too long, though some of the tracks could do with about a minute being trimmed. There is nothing really wrong with this disc at all.
The problem is the knowledge of what has been. Granted, the instrumental song here is better than Jupiter’s ‘The Decay Of The Delay, but aside from that, no song on offer here can touch anything from ‘Requiem’ to ‘Big Riff’. And this is not to castigate the band, as the album is very enjoyable. It’s just a bit sad that such a young band seems used up and spat out already.
Perhaps with time to heal from their deal gone awry, Brodsky et al. can get back to their best. In the meantime, they can settle for just being better than most other rock bands of the moment.
throughsilver in blog 
I really had planned to hear this, but never quite got around to it.I remember the British press (Namely NME) getting squarely behind CaveIn for a time, after Dave Grohl hand-picked them to open for him. It was terrific, there was a big flattering piece on CaveIn signing to RCA and about the Dave Grohl and everything, then later on, possibly in the same mag, you had an NME reviewer being positively baffled as to what exactly this band was about.Is Cave In still around?
I really had planned to hear this, but never quite got around to it.I remember the British press (Namely NME) getting squarely behind CaveIn for a time, after Dave Grohl hand-picked them to open for him. It was terrific, there was a big flattering piece on CaveIn signing to RCA and about the Dave Grohl and everything, then later on, possibly in the same mag, you had an NME reviewer being positively baffled as to what exactly this band was about.Is Cave In still around?
Yeah, as you know, this is a question I find myself asking all too often. I’ve not been to their site recently (I only really went there when Jupiter was the place to be, so I dunno really. I hope they tour because it’s be nice to catch them again. The one time I did see them was supporting the rubbish Hundred Reasons (who used to be amazing, but that’s a story for another time…), in a support slot that had time for about six songs. Still, they played ‘Jupiter’. I do know that Brodsky has recently released another album on Hydra Head but, seeing as he’s been doing extra-curricular stuff for ages, I’m not sure what it means for the future of Cave In.I get the feeling that the release of Perfect Pitch Black was something they had to get out of the way though; a psychological thing. Perhaps it is a full stop (or ‘period’) for the band…Postscript: check out this MySpace for the Octave Museum. I reckon you might like it. Hot damn, this is good. And they’re playing near me in February![edit] You might want to ‘open in new window’ for these links, because Blogger Comments won’t let me put that function in automatically.
Yeah, as you know, this is a question I find myself asking all too often. I’ve not been to their site recently (I only really went there when Jupiter was the place to be, so I dunno really. I hope they tour because it’s be nice to catch them again. The one time I did see them was supporting the rubbish Hundred Reasons (who used to be amazing, but that’s a story for another time…), in a support slot that had time for about six songs. Still, they played ‘Jupiter’. I do know that Brodsky has recently released another album on Hydra Head but, seeing as he’s been doing extra-curricular stuff for ages, I’m not sure what it means for the future of Cave In.I get the feeling that the release of Perfect Pitch Black was something they had to get out of the way though; a psychological thing. Perhaps it is a full stop (or ‘period’) for the band…Postscript: check out this MySpace for the Octave Museum. I reckon you might like it. Hot damn, this is good. And they’re playing near me in February![edit] You might want to ‘open in new window’ for these links, because Blogger Comments won’t let me put that function in automatically.