The Cave Singers

Invitation Songs (Matador)

Given this Seattle trio’s roots in Pretty Girls Make Graves, Hint Hint, and Murder City Devils, the folk terrain covered in the Cave Singers’ debut is a revelation. Warped around Peter Quirk’s elongated monotone and androgynously nasal voice that sounds like Jimmie Dale Gilmore covering Devendra Banhart, the songs tremor in the avalanched debris of freak-folk, eerily inflected over sparse arrangements. Even at their most uplifting, as with opener “Seeds of Night,” the songs slant ominously under the lingering, Rusted Root vocal quiver that rises full force in the rub-board stomp of “Dancing on Our Graves.” Yet Invitation Songs is as mesmerizing as it is unsettling, the acoustic strum of “Cold Eye” and “Helen” harnessing Quirk’s eccentricity, while “New Monuments” and closer “Called” hearken to a dark alterna-blues not far removed from Nirvana’s version of “In the Pines.” The Northwest apparently has its own fair share of dark hollers. (2:10pm, Stage 1)

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This article appears in November 2 • 2007.

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Doug Freeman has been writing for the Austin Chronicle since 2007, covering the arts and music scene in the city. He is originally from Virginia and earned his Masters Degree from the University of Texas. He is also co-editor of The Austin Chronicle Music Anthology, published by UT Press.