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Thursday, November 3

Cave "Neverendless" on Pitchfork (7.9)

Flip the numbers on the rating, and I'm all in on this Pitchfork review for CAVE's Drag City full length LP/CD and CASSETTE Neverendless ~
"CAVE's newest album is all movement. The first quick, rhythm-dominated moments of opener 'WUJ' propel Neverendless forward. The Chicago psych collective has likely been studying up on krautrock for a long time, and it dives headlong into that territory with a motorik drive, bass grooves, and Neu!-reminiscent synths. It's a lead track that knows how to build-- beginning with a sparse canvas, over the course of seven minutes it maintains a steady groove while adding and switching out layers. CAVE don't throw away that psych fuzz they do so well-- halfway in, the volume ramps up and the guitars become markedly heavier. That sturdy rhythm remains for the entire seven minutes, but they don't settle on one sound: They quiet down, increase the volume, add subtle licks, string airy synths above their guttural guitars, and all the while, establish a few central hooks."

"Regardless, the record keeps moving. Sometimes it moves with warmth, and sometimes with motorik rhythm. On the 14-minute 'This Is the Best' it pushes forward with a droning synth that lies underneath the rest of the song's layers. Seven minutes in, crunching guitars and buoying bass runs bury that synth. There are swirling, moaning vocals for a moment, and the guitar goes from a quick riff to an evenly spaced trudge. And through those gradual changes in the song's structure, the percussion holds sway. The drums make one change that stretches out for the song's final minutes, going to a hurried snare. It meets up with some equally hurried synths, which lay out a cluttered feeling of anxiety. And it doesn't stop for a few minutes. With hit after hit of urgent-sounding synths and drums, CAVE never let up or get faster, either. That's what they do best on Neverendless-- they just keep going."

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