The Bad Penny (beta)

Artist: Cave In
Album: Planets of Old (CD EP and DVD)
Label: Hydra Head
Release date: January 26

The Bad Penny’s two cents: Aeronautically obsessed post-hardcore Mass.-ters Cave In signed to a major label in the early ’00s in the hope of breaking through. Instead, they broke up a few years later amid a dwindling fanbase. The band has had ample time to reconfigure itself, but sadly, this comeback expedition finds Cave In still lost in space. Lead track “Cayman’s Tongue” trudges up the same sludge they left us with on 2005’s flawed Perfect Pitch Black, while the poppy “Retina Sees Rewind,” punky “The Red Trail” and snoozer “Air Escapes” feel more like throwaways – or at least B-sides – than adroit attempts at a coherent relaunch. Lucky for Cave In fans who don’t know where the band is going but know where it’s been, there’s a slick DVD slapped onto this re-release of last year’s Planets EP. Crisply shot with multi-camera angles that actually won’t give you a headache, the live videos prove Cave In still had allies at their Boston reunion show last summer. What the DVD doesn’t reflect is how cooly the band was received in L.A. a few months later – and how much work Cave In have to do if they want a legacy that goes beyond their early years.

Assets:
• album stream
• Boston Phoenix DVD clip: “Juggernaut”

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Go here to read my vintage interview with Cave In.
Go here for the Bad Penny New Releases Schedule.
Go here for more album reviews.

This entry was posted on 12/30/2009 at 8:51 am and is filed under Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Cave In. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.