Planet Notion - O'Death + The Cave Singers. Cargo. August 14th.

O'Death + The Cave Singers. Cargo. August 14th.

18/08/2008

Tremors of the current folk explosion have spewed forth a host of diverse and interesting bands from various reaches of the globe. The taking up of a tradition, long thought to have died the day Simon and Garfunkel decided to go their separate ways, is a phenomenon that has itself been the subject of over-lengthy musings and often hostile greetings. Tonight sees Cargo displaying a small sample of these folk shaped projectiles.

A promising sign as O’Death take to the stage is the notable presence of beards; an adornment devoid of fashion value and rife with a renegade attitude that always announces that: Here stands a band ready to point us to a rich musical landscape. And O’Death affirm, at least for now, that this is still the case. Armed merely with the tools of a traditional bluegrass band – a banjo, guitar, violin, bass and drums – they throw together a plethora of brilliantly interweaving styles with the most impassioned force. Though musically they’re rooted in some 19th century western setting, where times are hard and mean and vocal harmonies battle it out over intricate banjo and fiddle parts, there is a strong punk drive that pounds against your chest - whilst a wild, gypsy heart, sees them tearing savagely through songs that demand to be danced to. This very much evokes comparisons to fellow New Yorkers Gogol Bordello. Though this would not be unreasonable, there’s a constant roll of creative splendour in O’Death’s set, where a ho-down of interchanging rhythms meet intensely with brilliantly crafted vocal melodies. Each song is delivered with such force and conviction, that it feels as if they’re reaching out into the audience and using their individual souls as microphones to shout their message into. Most definitely a band of biblical proportions.

It would be near impossible to follow O’Death and outdo their boisterous ingenuity. The Cave Singers, however, alter the mood beautifully with their warm Americana tinged folk - which lacks nothing in intensity and whose soulful tones softly light

the air around the room. Despite a more stripped down stage set-up than on their album ‘Invitation Songs’, with merely guitar and vocals for their opener Helen, the haunting timbre of singer Pete Quirk’s voice creates an orchestral presence that expands out into the venue. Their music is both delicate and powerful; with fervently delivered melodies that undulate gently, they manage to paint remarkably vivid imagery of their world. This expressive force is explicit in Pete Quirk’s face as he draws out each articulation as if in a state of deep catharsis. As the set progresses it builds up to unexpected climactic clangs and a swirling drive that places a progressive colour to their folk sensibilities. Although both bands have a sound essentially rooted in traditional music, they each remould it in their own unique way that surely proves to any doubters that there is life in the old folk dog yet.

Words: Simon Jablonski

Photography: Chiara Meattelli

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