Cave Painting - Votive Life

  by Benjamin Howarth

published: 13 / 9 / 2012

---

Review

Though nominally an ‘indie’ band, Cave Painting clearly have their eyes set on playing huge arenas – with designs on an ‘epic’ sound with the kind of slow burn hooks that echo perfectly around 10,000 plastic seats. Don’t hold that against them, though. They have the talent to be very, very popular – a talented singer and obvious musical chemistry, as well as sensitive production from the man behind Kasabian and Temper Trap’s albums. I’d say Cave Painting were ambitious, rather than desperate. With more in common with the XX than Viva Brother, their debut album is one I wanted to enjoy. And I did. Initially signed to a major label, they followed the man who signed them out of the door as he set up his own independent label – necessating a period of legal wrangling – but even so, the 18 month period between forming their band and releasing their album seems quick. They don’t seem to mention this in many of their interviews, but a bit of online investigation draws out the fact that they aren’t strictly speaking a ‘new’ band, having released records and had airplay under their old name ‘Rob The Rich’. Their earlier work is brasher, faster and more stereotypically ‘indie’ – nothing to be ashamed of, but given how much better their new songs are, a new identity seems less a connivance than just a sensible move. Apparently, initial work on what would have been the debut Rob The Rich album convinced them that they could do better. They retreated into their rehearsal space, and re-emerged sounding very different. It’s striking how confident they now seem, in both their sound and their songs. Recent single, ‘So Calm’ has a memorable melody, but they let it build gradually, rather than reaching for a radio friendly hook. It helps that they have excellent basslines, which are the driving force behind this and many of the best moments on this album. Cave Painting are clearly well versed in bands who have had above-average success with unconventional musical styles in recent years. There are nods to Sigur Ros, Vampire Weekend, Animal Collective and the second Bon Iver album, as synths wash over their skeletal guitar lines. At their best, its an alluring mix, and I’d be surprised if some of these songs weren’t well established favourites on the festival circuit by the end of 2013. ‘Votive Life’, however, is not quite the classic they would have hoped for. While the headline tracks survive repeat listens, by the end of the album, it starts to drift. With the band revealing too little of their own personalities in the music, the songs that don’t have as catchy hooks struggle to keep your attention. Essentially, they’ve mastered stadium standard indie, but haven’t quite perfected drifting ambient music yet. It would have been easy to slag this album of – the product, as it so obviously is, of a carefully orchestrated ‘music industry’ campaign. I’d much rather bands evolved naturally, rather than being carefully positioned by their management. But, while many of the bands who seem to have played every ‘industry showcase’ before they ever appear before the paying public tend to end up making boring music as a result. It would be unfair to tar Cave Painting with the same brush. This debut album suggests a band who, with some more songs as good as ‘Gator’ and ‘So Calm’, will be very, very popular. Time will tell if they actually make it.

Track Listing:-

1 Leaf
2 Gator
3 So Calm
4 Handle
5 Only Us
6 Gator (Interlude)
7 Pair Up
8 Simoleon
9 Rio
10 Me You Soon (Interlude)
11 Nickel
12 Forming

Band Links:-

http://cavepaintingmusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/cavepaintingm
https://twitter.com/cptmusic
https://www.youtube.com/user/cavepaint
https://www.instagram.com/cptmusic/

Label Links:-

http://thirdrockmusic.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/ThirdRockMusic