SOUNDTRACK: CAVEMAN-Tiny Desk Concert #207 (April 10, 2012).
Bob Boilen really likes Caveman. He picked their 2011 album as one of his favorites of the year.
I find their music to be absolutely fine. But I feel like I’m missing the pop hooks–perhaps it’s different in this stripped down session. Two guitars bass keys and drums. The band plays four songs. “My Time” is a poppy bouncy song. “Easy Water” is moody with lots of shimmering guitars.
It turns out that the guitarist Jimmy Carbonetti has a shop in the East Village called Cobra Guitars. He made all of the band’s guitars. Each one is built one at a time. So there’s a nice plug for the shop.
“Old Vampire” has ringing guitars. It’s a fun instrumental jam with the singer playing drums along with the drummer. This song segues into “Old Friend,” another shimmering echoing song.
I really like the sounds the band has–their gentle echoing guitars sound great. And the singer’s voice fits quite well. The song even have some catchy spots, but there’s nothing dynamic about them for me to really latch onto.
[READ: March 16, 2016] “The Woman of the House”
The thing that I didn’t like about this story at first proved to be one of its strongest assets by the time I reached the end.
I found the writing to be stiff and rather unwelcoming. It was almost as if the author was trying to keep you out. I didn’t care for that, but I see how well it worked for the underlying theme of the story.
The plot is pretty straightforward. It opens on an old man in a wheelchair. To younger men have come to his house and have offered to paint it. He haggles with them–gives them a hard time–but they remain stone-faced and silent until he finally agrees. He asks if they are Polish (the story is set in Ireland) and they nod.
They are not Polish, but it doesn’t matter, they can be if it will serve them. The man knows that Polacks are good Catholics, which is why he agrees to their work. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 