I
closed my review of that previous album with the words … “I can’t wait to see
what Crystal Fighters come up with next”… well, what they’ve come up with is
more of the same; only this time it is a far more polished form of the Anglo/Spanish
pop that served the band so well the first time around. Music that’s both
danceable and instantly accessible. More warm summery vibes, more folk-world
crossover fare for the masses. Some of it, with its big choruses and eternal
optimism, might even be considered stadium ready if that’s the path Crystal
Fighters wind up going down.
Listening
to Cave Rave, it’s difficult to escape the feeling that such a route – that of mass
appeal – is precisely the market Crystal Fighters are aiming for. And who can really
fault a band for that … right?
A
part of me really loves this stuff. If it isn’t already blatantly obvious from
the content found on everythingsgonegreen, my very own guilty secret is an
unashamed love for pop music in its purest forms, and Cave Rave fits the bill
perfectly (as did Star of Love). There’s a helluva lot to like. Even in the midst
of the Southern hemisphere’s deepest and darkest winter months there’s much warmth
and positivity to be found amid these pop hooks. There’s times where you can
almost feel the soft sand beneath your feet as you’re transported to a world
where blue skies, long nights, and post-adolescent love reign supreme. The
backdrop is a Mediterranean beach, the soundtrack an endless series of tides
ebbing and flowing against its sun-baked shores.
So,
that’s the good bit (I think). It’s the same band, and very much the same
formula.
But
I’m also wondering why it is some of these tracks just end up grating on my
nerves. The harsher dubstep textures found on the band’s debut are no longer
there, and the hooks and choruses on Cave Rave become almost a little too
relentless in their wanton need to hit home. It somehow all feels a little too
plastic for its own good … a little disposable, even.
A
sharp edge has been removed from the band’s work on Cave Rave, replaced only by
a slick slab of surfboard wax, and perhaps a random sprinkling of sugar; parts
of the album are so saccharine and sickly there are moments where I’m
scrambling from the beach, and crawling up into the dunes, looking for a place to quietly
throw up … I’m classy like that.
It
also feels a little bit like a “coming of age” album. An album for anyone going
through that … by a band that might well be doing that very thing itself.
If
I’m feeling a little conflicted about Cave Rave, it probably comes down to that
age old mental quarrel between the youthful eternal optimist of yore, and aging
world-weary cynic/realist of the now.
Or
it might just be as simple as the fact that I’m currently caught in the midst
of extreme southerly wind blasts coming up directly from the harsh mid-winter environs
of the Antarctic, and the joys of Cave Rave feel as distant as they might
possibly be right now.
Whatever
the case, this one is worth saving, and I’m going to give it another crack in
the summer months …
Download:
‘Wave’, ‘You & I', and ‘Everywhere’.
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