Seattle has long been known for its rainy days and gray skies, but the importance of its musical identity has been growing since the 1980s. Indie folk, one of its newer outputs, has been moving into everyone's hearts for a while now, even spawning an annual folk concert known as the Seattle Folk Festival. Fleet Foxes is the current undisputed king of the scene right now, so what does "No Witch", the latest magnum opus by folk trio The Cave Singers, add to the folk momentum?
This is a hard question to answer.
About half of the album is oh-so-average, nuts and bolts folk music. The opening, "Gifts and the Raft," feels as though the band has just woken up with a fiddle meandering through the background. The second track, "Swim Club," has an easygoing feel, as does "Haller Lake," but the latter is forgettable by the high standards of Seattle's folk scene.
"Haystacks" tries very hard to be Southern rock and surprisingly almost succeeds as both rock and folk. By far the worst offender, however, is "Distant Sures," an unimpressive folk song with a heavy-handed string arrangement whose falling notes neatly mirror the listener's patience.
And then "Black Leaf" shows up out of nowhere, kicking life into an otherwise normal walk through gray Seattle days. It comes in the vein of '70s rockers Ram Jam, with an untamed rock riff, merged with Pete Quirk's natural lo-fi resonant nasal calls. The influences don't stop there — "Outer Realms" and, to a greater degree, "Faze Wave" take a more drugged stance, the latter combining a whining sitar with strong echo effects on the vocals and a constant on-again-off-again tambourine, which hits just as the song reaches its stride.
Still, other songs have stronger elements of rock. A personal favorite, "Clever Creatures," picks up with a standard beat before running into some tumbling guitars. Just as the song seems placed to hit its strongest movements in the chorus, it rises before dropping suddenly into some modest guitar picking. Were it a true rock song, the chorus would have been loud and booming, but here it almost doesn't exist.
And perhaps that is the secret to enjoying "No Witch."
The first two tracks sell the album as a folk compilation that any band could have thrown together in a couple of months. The rise and fall of the tone, however, between comparatively strong rockers, ambient folk and the occasional "Faze Wave" provide a nice cadence that almost keeps the album from overstaying its welcome.
The key is to look at "No Witch" not as a folk album, but rather as a genre compilation with folk elements. In fact, the only thing holding the album back is the folksy filler tracks that do nothing except grind down the listener's patience. If anything, this album seems to show that all members of the band, particularly lead guitarist Derek Fudesco, badly want to return to their earlier rock or punk years.
Special mention must be given to Pete Quirk, whose voice is the saving grace of the album. It has been said that an interesting or unique voice can save a band (see: Kings of Leon), and his nasal sound seems relaxed and well-placed. More importantly, it is versatile, from the speaking rhythm in "Swim Club" to the strained shouting in "Black Leaf." He is very adept at matching his sound to the tone of the song.
It's good to hear that The Cave Singers have begun indulging themselves, branching out from the normal folk with which they were previously preoccupied. Unfortunately, it appears as though they feel forced to continue appealing to their fan base, which would account for the many unwanted and unwelcome folk tracks that go on far too long and are far too frequent to appreciate as anything but a breath of air between more competent tracks.
Whether or not The Cave Singers have a masterpiece in them remains unclear, but they are taking steps in the right direction. Maybe next time their dark take on happy Seattle folk radio will strike gold.
