The Cave Singers

Welcome Joy

Matador Records

The Cave Singers, self portrait. Courtesy Matador Records.

A Seattle-based band, The Cave Singers, released Invitation Songs in 2007. That disc, was a simplistic piece of folk music structured around stripped down beats, ragged guitar strums—and, of course, Peter Quirk’s unusual tenor voice.

Their sophomore album, Welcome Joy paints a deeper, more pronounced picture of The Cave Singers and adds Amber Webber of Black Mountain and Lightning Dust and Ashley Webber, also from Lightning Dust, to the vocal mix.

The unfussy riffs; layering of pedals, harmonics, distinct bass lines and Peter Quirk’s voice (which is what one would imagine Bob Dylan’s voice would have sounded like with roughly fifty years more of smoking) from Invitation Songs are still there, yet subtly honed—and it makes a good difference.

Album opener, “Summer Window,” performs its job with finesse. Quirk’s nasal voice and his new female counterpart’s vocals shine against the sharp acoustic picking and timid drums. With a restrained eagerness, this track provides a stirring yet docile opening.

Most songs begin with a strumming guitar harmonized with Quirk’s vocals, followed by the tap-tap-tapping of a gentle drum set—as in “Leap.” By the time “Leap” ends with the climatic blow of a harmonica, one forgets the humble beginning of the song.

Illustrating a change in boldness is “At the Cut,” in which the band flawlessly weaves a Western-punk song. On this track, the group shows off their attitude and range of style. The track begins with gusto while fellow band members howl and moan like madmen in the background.

“Jangle” seems to be the perfect balance. The song’s steady, soft melody invokes a change in depth for the Singers. “Jangle” begins with the twang of a guitar and adds a quiet collage of almost cute beats to the background. The song conjures up a field of dandelions on a plain where a folky teddy bear plays and drinks moonshine with his (or her) other stuffed, animal friends. Yes, you read right, a folky teddy bear, complete with river-pebble eyes and a rusted, tin harmonica.

The Cave Singers work the same minimalist magic with “The Beach House.” With its steady acoustic introduction, the song subtly escalates with the tingle of what could be the shaking of dry rice in a glass jar.

Welcome Joy undoubtedly paints a deeper-hued portrait of The Cave Singers. There is a good amount of dedication to wholesome campfire sounding songs with tracks like “Townships” and “Beach House.” Even though Welcome Joy may be a piece of simplistic Americana, The Cave Signers have turned up their profundity just a notch since Invitation Songs.

-Dominique Salas