The other day I was handed a flyer, an honest-to-goodness Xeroxed flyer. That’s not something that happens too often in the Facebook era. And it was for Cave, one of Chicago’s best bands, playing an unexpected show at off-the-beaten-path hole-in-the-wall El Mamey bar in Humboldt Park.
This is prime time to catch Cave. The Kraut revivalists have shifted their lineup a number of times over the years, and I think the one they’re currently operating with is their best. This retooled grouping, which swapped out synth player Rotten Milk with guitarist Jeremy Freeze, of the Memphis-based psych-country band Jerusalem & the Starbaskets, has been together for about a year now. Adding a second guitar player widely expanded the band’s sonic palette: before, they were concentrated and razor-sharp, streamlined like a musical laser beam. Now they’re loud, expansive, and raucous. On the songs where Cooper Crain goes from organ to guitar, they turn into a full-on rock band. Even some of the dialed-back material from their last LP, Neverendless, sounds huge and intense this time around.