Cold Cave

Love Comes Close
Matador Records

What happens when you lock a bunch of hardcore and noise musicians in a room? They make gothic music, of course! I unreservedly love Cold Cave. Wesley Eisold (formerly of American Nightmare), with assistance from Caralee McElroy (Xiu Xiu) and Dominick Fernow (Prurient), bashes out primitive, insanely catchy, dark electro in the vein of Joy Division, Blank Dogs, and Cabaret Voltaire, filtered through archaic effects pedals and ancient keyboards. The vibe of “Love Comes Close” is poised, foreboding and authoritarian. The vocals are joyless and icy - split between a blank female and a blank male – the synths and drum machines echo the heartbeats of a melancholic. Their music takes in and spits out new wave, postpunk and early house music, all with a deeply European hue.

Cold Cave are up there with the Horrors in terms of sullen defiance and singleminded expression. Overcast grays and pale greens suffuse every note, dancing a wild dervish on the inside of your eyelids. And yeah, one of their songs is on the teevee, but don't hold that against them. This is
what you need.

- Matthew Moyer