Play Some New!

A great man - I think it was Freddie And The Dreamers - once wrote that "the quality of old music is not strained but droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven". The quality of new music, however, is strained like a hernia. I spin maybe a couple or three "new" (i.e. made by Millennials, who incidentally gave us the Corona Virus) albums a week in the vain hope that something will pin my hairy old ears back and reflex up some arthritic air guitar.

The Cave Flowers album has crept up on me like a hash cake high. It's Country Rock, see. Not Country, not Rock, but that elusive and heady mix frequently featured at Th' House O'Foam©, the genuine thing. These guys will spin your spurs off (not at all a given with new music). The drummer is a delight, and clearly enjoys his work. Most of these songs are mid-tempo, but he approaches each one with a subtly different feel, adding groovy little fills or crash cymbal, working his way round the kit. There's a keyboard player who is way better than he wants you to know, and a bass player who keeps to the shadows but you'd miss him if he was gone. And then there's the lead vox, nicely road-weary, and guitars that make you ache for more. If the album has a failing it's in leaving you wanting more. More steel guitar. More wah-wah guitar. I really, really need to hear their nine-minute wigout, ending in a piercing hail of feedback. And while you're at it, guys, a guest fiddle spot and some harmony backing vox maybe?

The songs are short, and have plain melodies and predictable chords, but if they didn't they'd be jazz. There's a few unexpected steps and stops to keep things interesting, and a couple of plays in they fit like those old jeans your wife wants to throw out.

There's very little about the band on the internet. They're from LA, and you can buy the album for seven lousy bucks at Bandcamp. Big, big fan of their work. Nice cover art, too, which matters.