Cave’s Intense Engagement

By Jon Graef in Arts & Entertainment on May 26, 2010 6:20PM

Cave’s 2009 release Psychic Psummer started off quietly, but then leapt off the speaker with frantic krautrock and pulsating proto-punk, like a compromise between formed between The Stooges and Neu! While the Chicago band certainly demonstrated an aptitude for laying down a sonic ruckus, it did so at the expense of exploring non-intense moods. So does the title of the band’s debut EP for Drag City, Pure Moods, suggest that they’ve gone the route of smooth jazz and ambient new age?

Of course not. But Pure Moods does showcases the Cave stretching out and exploring different … well, let’s call them “atmospheres.” Under an insistent, but not intrusive, drum beat, Cave lay on chiming guitars, whirring, spacey synth lines and a bumping bass line for opening track “Hot Bricks,” a song that doesn’t sound entirely unlike Stereolab. The format is later replicated in part on “Teenager,” which starts off with menacing machine-gun guitar riff before adding the requisite keyboards and thumping rhythm section. As if that weren’t enough, Pure Moods concludes with epic “Brigitte’s Trip (White Light/White Jazz)” a track that patiently layers those previously mentioned elements of the band’s sound over the course of its 12-minute running time.

All in all, these three songs make Pure Moods an engaging effort. But that’s the thing. After countless EPs and 7-inches, Cave’s discography is lousy with engaging efforts. But where’s the mind-boggling LP? Where Cave moves on from Pure Moods is yet to be seen, but if there were anytime for true statement of purpose, it’s now.

Cave will play a CD release party for Pure Moods on June 4 at The Hideout, 1354 W Wabansia, 10 p.m., $8, 21+