Cold Cave – Cherish the Light Years (2011) [Matador] // Grade: B-

I want to like Cherish the Light Years way more than I do, but I’ve struggled, listen after listen, to articulate what about it isn’t clicking with me. I mean, there’s no shortage of “good” on this album: good hooks, good anthems, good sounds, good beats. Good, fat EBM bass on “Underworld USA,” the “Why Can’t I Be You” trumpet blaring on “Alchemy + You,” a whole shock of bright white sunlight against seething pockets of darkness. This very well might be Cold Cave’s “crossover” record, if you care about such a thing, and it very well might do what those sorts of records should: introduce exciting music, freshly polished, to a whole group of listeners who didn’t know they wanted it.

And maybe Cold Cave will find footing alongside the world’s MGMTs, soundtracking the credits to edgy-sappy movies, playing huge sold-out rooms to kids blinding them with camera flashes. I mean, my god, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, and I can think of bands who deserve it far less. But does that mean Cherish the Light Years is an intrinsically fantastic album? Or, on the opposite end, intrinsically…compromised?

I don’t know.

These things I do know: this sophomore release is bigger, bolder, so much more anthemic than Love Comes Close. The tracks come at you like an onslaught, a constant hot buzz, radiating with shades of Depeche Mode, Flock of Seagulls, Echo & The Bunnymen; if it’s not a singalong, it’s a synth-pop banger begging for a remix—and often it’s both. The whole thing is straight 80s dark-pop—think a mid-career Cure record—but with the undeniable brightness of 21st century production, thanks to Chris Coady.

But while most of the album nearly explodes with this vibrant personality, it’s not always Cold Cave’s personality. Not strictly, at least. Songs like “Confetti” and “Catacombs” aren’t rip-offs of specific songs or bands, but they feel so familiar—both the 80s vibe and the modern production—it’s difficult to know whether you’d be able to peg them as Cold Cave jams if you didn’t already know. That doesn’t make the songs less enjoyable (and, to be fair, they mostly avoid the Bravery/Killers/Orgy trap so many dark bands stumble into when they try to commercialize), but it does make the listening experience a completely different thing. Go into this one understanding that it’s a new day of Cold Cave, that Love Comes Close was the launchpad but Cherish the Light Years is the rocket, that the previous moody brooding is explored via shine and polish, and you’ll find at least six of the nine tracks immensely satisfying. But expect the rough-around-the-edges band of 2009, the gruff and raw and slightly dangerous Cold Cave of yore—well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

- Rue Sauvage