Welcome Joy

While living in Seattle I found the whole “grunge” image the city gets to be – to the city’s residents, at least – a thing of the past. Sure, there’s still much love for Pearl Jam and all those other early-90s era flannel-clad rockers, but the focus has shifted. Obviously, people who live in the Pacific Northwest – and pretty much everywhere in the U.S. – love Seattle folkers The Fleet Foxes. Seattleites love a duo called The Dutchess and the Duke, too. But I found another band, The Cave Singers, to be the most universally loved band by locals. Kind of shocked me, honestly, as the Singers are still a very young, very modest band. 

Welcome Joy, the band’s second record in less than two years, is some seriously pensive stuff. Many of the songs fall from the speakers gently, arriving almost as less lyrical b-sides from Townes Van Zandt classics like High, Low and in Between and The Late Great Townes Van Zandt. Never a bad thing to be compared to Townes. The 10 songs on this short record are all fairly modest and warm, never going out of their way to be hip or weird or genre-bending. They’re songs, nothing more. Lean and to-the-point, just like any old school dusty country classic.

Singer Peter Quirk’s vocals often quiver and shake, holding the rambling songs together with a songwriter mumble not heard much since the late 60s. There’s a real authenticity in his voice that ranks the young singer alongside other current throwbacks like J.T. Earle and Will Oldham. Quirk’s vocals exude a hippie vibe at times, the delivery feeling almost religious in nature.

The real star of this mostly great record, however, are the arrangements. Subtle, folky and delicate, these 10 simple songs manage to never feel too samey (my word!). Yes, there is a cohesion here not common in today’s download era, but Quirk, guitarist Derek Fudesco and drummer Marty Lund have a whole lot of ideas. Simple ideas that keep their simple songs interesting and help the record move from front to back. Some songs rock, but most simply arrive. Slow and solid, perfect for playing alongside your Iron & Wine and Justin Vernon records. Perfect for a slow summer afternoon, shoes off and beers cracking. Toasted tunes that have the rare ability to appeal to hippies, hipsters and classic rock fans alike.    6/10

Written by G. William Locke