Chicago's Cave Lands @ Beerland Tonight [With Dikes of Holland & More]

For post-psych and prog fans everywhere, Cave's Psychic Psummer (Important Records) is a dream come true. Following the Chicago outfit's Hunt Like Devil/Jamz EP, this new full-length brings the group to a new level, offering major riffs, expert jams, percussion freakouts and repeating phrases that build into throbbing crescendos that would make Explosions in the Sky pee their pants. Pulling from Can's influential horizon-focused approach to songwriting, Cave takes intricate, crunchy guitar hooks and builds each song from the ground up. There's a lot of stuff in here for the metal stoner, but for fans of phrase elevation, Reich and digression, there's even more. Don't let the tie-dye and long hair fool you: these are thoughtful, talented guys with a serious devotion to the organized, detail-oriented jam.

The most exciting thing about Psychic Psummer is how well these things come together in the studio. It seems like a no-brainer to advocate the live show, where these songs (and hopefully one or two from the split EP with California Raisins, Down at the Flophouse) will undoubtedly take new shapes. On record, the band manages to mix the elevated jam and open-ended nature of their songs with incredible production that pays dutiful attention to both the raucous and reserved parts of the group's sound. Guitars bleed, come back down to pristine intricacies and the occasional hollered vocals seep through the mix like haunting heathens.

The show tonight is at Beerland, and the bill is rounded out by a well-selected onslaught of local support. Dikes of Holland, the Young, Megazilla and the Cooper Cranes will begin around 10 pm.

Cave [MySpace] ["High, I Am" (mp3)]