Le Diamant Brut: Cold Cave & Clay Nightingale
COLD CAVE
What’s the Deal: You may not have heard of this New York-based brooding synth-pop trio yet, but, chances are you’ll remember one of vocalist Wesley Eisold’s former hardcore outfits (Some Girls, Give up the Ghost, etc.). Cold Cave is a far cry from those earlier projects. Electronic beats and claps, along with synth sounds and droning accompanies deep, gothy, Stephen Merritt-esque vocals from Eisold and occasional sweetly poppy sounds from the pipes of bandmate Caralee McElroy. Their debut record, Love Comes Close, was recently picked up and re-released by Matador Records. They also plan to release the next recording, reportedly called Cherish the Light Years, in summer 2010.
The title track off the debut has a definite Magnetic Fields vibe mixed with a little more new wave gloom. Eisold’s deep vocals are in full, hooky effect in this catchy, quirky tune that should have electro-gothers tapping their feet and swaying their heads. “Life Magazine” features McElroy on vocals, and she guides the song into a more dance club-friendly zone, while still maintaining a muted moodiness that suites the song.
Something Interesting: They were just ranked in the groups to watch section of the new Spin magazine, alongside Final Fantasy, Revocation, The xx, and others.
Other Tracks Worth Checking Out: “Poison Berries” and “The Laurels of Erotomania”
What’s the Deal: The name Clay Nightingale should be attached to a man who’s either a door-to-door vacuum salesman, a revival preacher or a lounge singer. However, there’s no single member of the San Marcos sextet - Daniel Schaetz, Drew Schaetz, Jeremy White, Matt Roth, Dustin Pevey and Joe Trent - with that moniker. Their music, which is perfect for a rainy, overcast drive through the Texas landscape, is full of country-tinged folk pop replete with piano, tambourine, slide guitar and all the normal fixins, and the lead vocals sound a little reminiscent of a slightly twangier version of Final Fantasy’s Owen Pallett. Clay Nightingale’s new self-titled record is out now, and their older album, The River and Then The Restless Wind, is still available too.
Do you really need to hear anything more than the title of the song, “Bring an Autoharp”, to give you enough incentive to check out this group? Even though, it’s unclear whether the song actually includes an autoharp. There are, however, plenty of whining strings, chimes and sweetly sung lines like “Come and meet me in your dreams/ bring an autoharp”. “Move to the Woods” is a song with a wandering soul which makes you want to trek out to the woods and put some wear on that boot tread.
Something Interesting: The group will play Friday with Cartright, Frank Smith and Sad Accordions at Mohawk, a local lineup that’s tough to beat.
Other Tracks Worth Checking Out: “Eric McMullen” and “Piece of Glass”
Clay Nightingale [MySpace]
