It’s Going to be a Cold Summer
Fresh from New York new wave synthpop group Cold Cave comes their sophomore album, Cherish the Light Years. Fronted by punker gone pop Wesley Eisold Give Up the Ghost, Some Girls, XO Skeletons) he handles most of the production himself while supported by musicians Dominick Fernow (Prurient) and Jennifer Clavin (Mika Miko) during live performances.
Fast, hard guitar riffs accompanied by high note keys and plenty of high hat open Cherish the Light Years on “The Great Pan is Dead,” which builds steam with Wesley Eisold’s emotion packed vocals. “Confetti” is a catchy number with heavy synth loops and highly reverberated guitar. Eisold’s vocals accompany the harmony well here singing, “You look so good on the outside.” with groaning Gahan-meets-LeBon sounding vocals. The following song, “Catacombs,” is another Mode-esque synthpop song straight from the 80s with subtle baritone and baroque influences. “Icons of Summer” sticks with the heavy synth and new wave themes of the album but adds some analogue 8-bit loops into the mix.
Cherish the Light Years is like taking a time machine straight into 1982 when new wave was king. Luckily for Eisold, retro throwback themes are becoming more and more popular, so this album doesn’t sound entirely as stale as it looks on paper. Fans of classic synthpop new wave like Depeche Mode and Duran Duran will find some pleasure here, however, Eisold puritans be wary, you may discover that this is a departure from his usual line of work.
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