pampelmoose Dave Allen of Gang of Four’s Music and Media Blog — music . media . web. culture

Some bands try their hand at a late ’70s/early ’80s synth pop homage with tongue planted firmly in cheek, others revel in the experience of updating the sound of their influences with modern day trappings. Then there are the rare few acts, like the Philadelphia by way of New York quartet Cold Cave, that capture that era’s combination of industrial gloom, sexy tinglings and dark humor with eerie precision and an appropriately icy remove.

Their debut album – being reissued this month on Matador – plays like a mix CD of iconic British groups like The Human League (especially the bouncing interplay of band leader Wesley Eisold and former Xiu Xiu member Caralee McElroy’s male/female vocals on the dazzling “The Trees Grew Emotions And Died”), New Order (the melody and lyric of “Love Comes Close” just barely avoids copying “Your Silent Face” outright), and Depeche Mode. They pay tribute to these groups without devolving into parody. Each squelching synthesizer, tinny beat and dour vocal is done lovingly and with obvious care.

Why it succeeds where other likeminded groups have failed by the calm with which they approach this music. It wears its reference points proudly but there’s an appreciable subtlety with which they put them forth. The hooks anchoring these songs are used carefully, often lying in the background, sneaking up when needed before receding into the inky blackness. It’s not a subtle or quiet album by any means – much of it is pure retro dance floor fodder – but it aims to seduce rather than attack. I highly suggest you give into their ministrations.