The Cavemen: S/T
A couple of weeks back, I pointed the Six Noises’ spotlight at Cemetery Circuit, the heavy-duty debut album from roughneck New Zealand surf punk combo The Dobermen. *Cemetery Circuit *features bleeding-raw garage rock and twangin’ rockabilly, both of which often thrum along at a motorik pace. However, what Cemetery Circuit also features––some might say, most of all––is a big old dose of swaggering attitude. That’s what The Dobermen are known for: going hell for leather, not giving a shit what you or I think, and spoiling for a fight.
That’s a stance that sounds like it also rings very true for Auckland punks The Cavemen. I don’t know if the band are really angling for a tussle as such––I kind of get the idea they’re focused on more hedonistic goals––but their self-titled debut certainly features plenty of greasy riffs, uncouth howling, and road-rash-raw garage punk.
Think a dose of Dead Moon, with a little of the Cramps and The Stooges, and then throw on a whole heap of vintage trash punk’s debauchery. That’s essentially The Cavemen. It’s sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll conveyed via lo-fi and psychotic punk. Straight-up and straight-down-the-line song titles like “Fuck for Hate”, “Rock ’n’ Roll Retard”, “Rides with the Reich”, “Fucked in the Head” and “Trash Talkin’ Paint Huffin’” will give you a pretty good sense of the stonkin’ three-chord delinquent punk on offer before you’ve even heard a note.
The Cavemen makes no accommodations for anyone’s sensitivity. Musically and lyrically, it’s rip-shit-and-bust and down-and-dirty all the way home. Sound good? It should! The Cavemen is guaranteed neighbour-upsetting fun. It’s rude and crude, with vocalist Paul Caveman spitting tacks while Jack Caveman fires off primitive riffs, and bassist Nick Caveman and drummer Jake Caveman pile on the rough-hewn sonics.
Sure, The Cavemen isn’t sophisticated or remotely complex. But it is one of those wonderful loose-nut albums that reminds you that life is short, and when it’s not being nasty as hell it’s simply dull as ditch water. So you might as well crank that volume knob to 11 on some prurient punk rock and get busy making your own filthy fun, before you die in some tediously mundane fashion.
The Cavemen is out via Bandcamp (for a ‘name your price’ fee) and is also available on pretty sweet looking vinyl too.
