Oh my – these eardrums have responded admirably to a wider array of sonic shrapnel than perhaps the average person, but Cave Curse is putting them to the test. Every instrument and element of the band is distorted and redlined to such a degree that I fear a shutdown to complete static mode is imminent. I am overwhelmed.
To my intense delight.
Yeah, it’s easy to draw comparisons to another “Cave” band with a similar darkwave/synthpunk strategy, one with a little more Eisold and a little less Hussy, but the amount of Hussy in Cave Curse is the thing that differentiates it from the average doom-and-gloom goth rock outfit. Or maybe the Hussy’s the blast of animated vigor that sends Cave Curse so far over the top that it’s impossible to avert your attention.
I’m talking of course of Bobby Hussy.
Haven’t heard of him? You will. Especially if you live in Kansas. Or Madison, Wisconsin. He played in The Hussy, Fire Heads, and TIT. Remember that guy?
C’mon, you remember.
Anyway, where Cave Curse was once a solo venture it now stands as a full band, even though this tape was recorded just by Hussy and drummer Will Gunnerson. But dammit, it sounds like a full band! The pace is consistently set at “breakneck,” the attitude is perpetually “disaffected,” and the melody is one “metal on metal” away from giving the sound guy a total nervous breakdown. But that’s all important when you’re pissed and have a van loaded up with vintage electronic gear. You run that gear into the ground to serve your artistic purpose.
And Cave Curse does just that. Beautiful static, beautiful rage – I feel like a kid again, the only indie rocker playing basement hardcore shows. What a time to be alive.
Cave Curse
Rare Plant
--Ryan