This second album from The Cave Singers is a more immediate listen than its predecessor, following in the lineage of recent Americana revivalists like Midlake and Fleet Foxes in its pop-fuelled re-appraisal of traditional acoustic songwriting tropes. In fact, also like Fleet Foxes the band originate from Seattle, though The Cave Singers' various members arrived at their current gig from very different backgrounds, playing in post-punk type bands like Pretty Girls Make Graves, Cobra High and Hint, Hint. There's little hint of anything so rowdy on opener 'Summer Light', its rambling, almost ragtime style alluding to early recordings of American folk music whilst the arrangement remains approachable and modern, all topped off by a Ryan Adams-like intonation from singer Peter Quirk. 'Leap' rocks a little harder, matching shuffling hoedown drums with a little telecaster twang and harmonica, but by the halfway mark Welcome Joy reaches its pinnacle with 'Hen Of The Woods', which is where most of the Fleet Foxes comparisons will come from. There's an abundance of good stuff from here on with tracks like 'Beach House' and 'VV' resonating especially strongly. A far more focused, confident sounding record than its predecessor, Welcome Joy comes highly recommended.
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This second album from The Cave Singers is a more immediate listen than its predecessor, following in the lineage of recent Americana revivalists like Midlake and Fleet Foxes in its pop-fuelled re-appraisal of traditional acoustic songwriting tropes. In fact, also like Fleet Foxes the band originate from Seattle, though The Cave Singers' various members arrived at their current gig from very different backgrounds, playing in post-punk type bands like Pretty Girls Make Graves, Cobra High and Hint, Hint. There's little hint of anything so rowdy on opener 'Summer Light', its rambling, almost ragtime style alluding to early recordings of American folk music whilst the arrangement remains approachable and modern, all topped off by a Ryan Adams-like intonation from singer Peter Quirk. 'Leap' rocks a little harder, matching shuffling hoedown drums with a little telecaster twang and harmonica, but by the halfway mark Welcome Joy reaches its pinnacle with 'Hen Of The Woods', which is where most of the Fleet Foxes comparisons will come from. There's an abundance of good stuff from here on with tracks like 'Beach House' and 'VV' resonating especially strongly. A far more focused, confident sounding record than its predecessor, Welcome Joy comes highly recommended.
This second album from The Cave Singers is a more immediate listen than its predecessor, following in the lineage of recent Americana revivalists like Midlake and Fleet Foxes in its pop-fuelled re-appraisal of traditional acoustic songwriting tropes. In fact, also like Fleet Foxes the band originate from Seattle, though The Cave Singers' various members arrived at their current gig from very different backgrounds, playing in post-punk type bands like Pretty Girls Make Graves, Cobra High and Hint, Hint. There's little hint of anything so rowdy on opener 'Summer Light', its rambling, almost ragtime style alluding to early recordings of American folk music whilst the arrangement remains approachable and modern, all topped off by a Ryan Adams-like intonation from singer Peter Quirk. 'Leap' rocks a little harder, matching shuffling hoedown drums with a little telecaster twang and harmonica, but by the halfway mark Welcome Joy reaches its pinnacle with 'Hen Of The Woods', which is where most of the Fleet Foxes comparisons will come from. There's an abundance of good stuff from here on with tracks like 'Beach House' and 'VV' resonating especially strongly. A far more focused, confident sounding record than its predecessor, Welcome Joy comes highly recommended.