The Cavemen - Night After Night

Ah, the mighty Cavemen are back! Except this time, they're not just swinging clubs and cracking skulls. On their fourth album Night After Night (out now on Slovenly Recordings), New Zealand's most notorious neanderthals have demonstrated that they can do just about anything. Of course it wouldn't truly be a Cavemen record if it were completely lacking in scuzzy and pugnacious rock and roll. On that note, raging cuts like "Snakeskin", "Can't Resist", and "Knife Fight" will more than satisfy your appetite for mayhem. And "Slave" is a thumping Stoogey freakout of the highest caliber. But elsewhere, the group dives deeper into its '50s/'60s influences and shows itself to be a damn fine rock and roll band, period. "Don't Know Why" is pure pop through and through - proof that The Cavemen are fighters and lovers! "Boyfriend" leans into doo-wop and early rock and roll, bringing to mind a delinquent Dion and the Belmonts. Listening to the title track, I briefly considered that someone had managed to sneak a Los Pepes song onto a Cavemen record. Man, this is how you do power pop with balls! "Are You Lonely" channels the young, savage Rolling Stones, while "Belgian Holiday" shares bubblegum and primitive punk touchstones with raw, first album Ramones. "Guess I Know It's True" has me thinking The Cavemen are grand-babies of The Troggs, which sure seems fitting enough. 

All in all, Night After Night has a little bit of everything: some punk, some garage, some pop, some blues, even a little wild west for you. It was a perfect way for The Cavemen to show some range and progression and still sound like, you know, The Cavemen! You can still find plenty of cuts here suitable for frightening the neighbors at earsplitting volumes. But Night After Night also puts this band's very underrated songwriting chops on full display. This is garage punk meets garage rock, and as such it is perfectly at home on the Slovenly roster. I'm telling you "Don't Know Why" is a pop smash. We just might be looking at the #1 teenage heartthrobs of 2020!



-L.R.

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