Caves

When things get Lo-Fi it’s a dangerous game, the ear can only tolerate so much messy distortion before it decides enough is enough. Luckily for CAVES their, possibly eponymous, possibly untitled, EP contains a trio of tracks which are much much more than that. With lyrics such as ‘we can’t surf while we’re high, skateboarding never died’ the chilled attitude of Joe Daly and company is clearly at the forefront of the bands’ output and, quite frankly, its infectious. There’s something here for the complete slacker but also, as displayed on ‘Rich Kids’, enough punch for it to be listened to in places other than the sofa. However it is in their bizarrely titled homage to Keanu Reeves that CAVES display all their most enticing characteristics. Fresh from supporting their fellow capitalised cool kids JAWS at the Birmingham O2, CAVES are heading to play in Camden on the 13th of September, and a little closer to home on the 18th. You can download all three tracks below for free before you dust off your skateboard and head on down to give them some support at the Sunflower Lounge. - First Song For Your Mixtape/ Joe West

Birmingham, this is getting ridiculous. Already the origins of some of 2012's most exciting new bands, there’s yet another to add to the list in Caves. Harnessing the same beachy escapism as their hometown pals Jaws and Swim Deep, B-Town’s latest gem approach it in a very different, way more anguished way. On ‘Gold Beach’, they sing “I wanna live by a beach… We can surf while we’re high/Skateboard and never die” in the same zonked mumble as Kurt Cobain on ‘Pennyroyal Tea’. On ‘Rich Kids’ they swap sandy dreams for more fiscal ones, sweet chiming shuffles cushioning muffled lyrics about working to the bone. It might be early days for Caves but they’re already showing the kind of potential that might just save them from the drudgery of the 9-5. - Beatpyramid/ Rhian Daly [NME]

“Fuck beaches I always get sand in my eyes and seagulls piss me off.” This is what Birmingham’s latest buzz band Caves say about living by the beach, even though their song Gold Beach might suggest exactly the opposite. Their band name was inspired by a book of one of their nans about caves and sea monsters matching Caves’ take on hazy grunge pop with bursts of distorted guitar. A band which wrote a song with the title Keanu Reeves and saying about him “If someone that bad can be a movie star I can live of rock n roll” should certainly be on your radar.
- London On The Inside Music/ Ben Smith

1. Hey Caves, intros please?

Hi, we are CAVES we are a band from Birmingham, we have an EP out and we’re
gonna record our new single in like december. Our music is getting sadder and
more angst filled by the day, we’re not the same band as when we started, back then we
loved the beach boys and ice cream now we love joy division and meth.

2. Why the name Caves (shit question but people want to know)?

I went to my Nan’s and she had an old book about caves and I figured caves
sounded pretty cool.

3. Are you all from Brum?

Yeah me and Adam live just outside in Halesowen, I heard it was nicknamed
brown town because of the heroin, I’m proud. We spend most of our time in
Birmingham though.

4. It’s a great time to be from Birmingham if you’re in a Band, why is it
blowing up at the mo?

I think it’s just because life round here sucks and good music comes from bad
places. Promoters round here are dealing well with it all too.

5. Which bands have helped you on the journey, so far?

JAWS have probably helped us the most cause we’re friends and that’s what
friends are for. Apart from them bands like YOOFS, WIDE EYED and DIY labels like
Distorted Tapes have helped a lot too. Oh and U2, we are real close!

6. Do you actually want to live by the Beach (as one of your songs say)?

No not really, everyone is writing surf songs at the moment and it just seems
weird cause we all live in the city. So that’s CAVES version of that. Fuck beaches I always get sand in my eyes and seagulls piss me off.

7. We love the fact you have music out on Cassette Tape, how did this happen?

Because Adam our drummer is good at being in a band and somehow him and
DISTORTED TAPES magically met and with help from our artist Jack, who we keep in
our basement the tapes were born and look great. You can buy them on the DT
website or us in the future. http://distortedtapes.bigcartel.com/product/caves-grunge-on-the-beach-pre-order

8. Why do you have a tune called Keanu Reeves?

Because the song just feels like a big sad weird noise and when ever I think
of big sad weird noises Keanu Reeves comes to mind. He ruins Coppola’s Dracula
but there are some lyrics referencing his good movies too like BILL & TED and
POINT BREAK! Too cool.

9. Who’s a worst actor Keanu or Jean-Claude Van Damme?

This is worst than Sophie’s choice. Keanu is bad and when you watch one of
his movies you really see how bad he is but it gives me hope. If someone that
bad can be a movie star I can live off rock n roll. But JCVD on the Coors light advert is too much, so he wins.

10. “There’s a demon in my brain he’s got friend’s” (Caves – Rich Kids), has a
very Nirvana edge. Are they an influence?

They are my favourite band and that stuff just rubs off on you. but yeah we
recorded that EP for so cheap and I had no pedals apart from reverb so now we can really make the sounds we want.

11. Which bands play apart in the Caves sound?

Bands like The Smiths, Joy division, Deerhunter, MBV, WARPAINT, NMH… I could
go on forever all I do is listen to music really, from jazz to trance.

12. Who would you most want to play a gig with?

Mmmm maybe Warpaint or The Twilight Sad.

13. What are the plans for 2013?

Well we have some recordings booked up, so release a single and just go with
the flow man. Maybe do a world tour!!!!

14. Which towns and cities would you most want to play?

Everywhere like from Austria to New York. It would be cool to play somewhere
that were not allowed like wall street.

15. If you could punch a fish, which one would you go for?

I’m a vegetarian so I probably wouldn’t punch it unless it was life or death
so probably the creature from the Black Lagoon because he is scary.

16. One play on the jukebox, what would it be? JAWS just played Michael
Jackson – The Way You Make Me Feel, so it can’t be that???????

This must be the place – Talking Heads. absolute banger!!! - Bread Club

Remember how last week we were all chatting about the B-town apocalypse and whether inner-city beach-heads could ever be a thing. Well, good news guys. That old wound just got blasted wide open by B-town bairns Caves. Recommended to us by Connor [of Jaws] in our interview last week they’re exactly the kind of band you’ll either love or hate. Lo-fi to a ridiculous degree and chatting away about the beach underneath woozy guitar lines they’re yet another band making B-town the new Bude. Not that it even matters. The hype eyeglass is about to point firmly on this lot… - Percy/ Shiny Shiny New