I’m impressed: after floundering a bit with last year’s Pure Moods EP, Cave has come back with Neverendless, easily the Chicago group’s most focused and coherent statement to date. There’s an engaging minimalist/maximalist tension at the album’s core — Cave builds extended krautrock jams around minimalist themes (notably: locked-in repetition) with a healthy dose of rock muscle and neo-psychedelic, almost soundscape-y synth work. This tension makes for a rich listen — the energy and rock exuberance of the band’s foundations make Neverendless consistently engaging, while everything else makes the album dense and rewarding.
Cave definitely has its influences — the last half of the 14-minute album centrepiece “This is the Best” recalls Each One Teach One-era Oneida in sheer repetition and synth tone; opener “WUJ” is a Neu!-esque motorik number that builds masterfully to a noise-psych crest. So while there’s nothing strictly new here, Cave’s touchstones are rarely touched upon with such confidence and energy. Normally I’d be more critical since Oneida already did this sort of thing, but that was a thrilling and unique sound to begin with and nobody else really stepped up to push it further. Here, Cave has done just that. Top rock album of the year contender for me here, folks.
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