With pretty much every rock band nowadays owing at least something to bands and genres of yore, it seems someone's always asking the question, "when is somebody gonna bring back yacht rock?" Or, "who's gonna start jackin' hair metal?" Or, more close to Seattle's dampened heart, "when will GRUNGE see its retributioooooooooooon!" Anyone else heard this inquisitive quandary of late? Well, I have (thanks to my lovely bride-to-be), and it was concerning ska music. One genre we might not have expected to be resurrected any time soon was the often-hailed/sometimes-derided reggae and dub forefather.

(To satiate history buffs, ska was the precursor to reggae music, and while it never attained the same level of global prominence as its wide-ranging offspring, it did experience much popularity in the 60s, 70s and early 80s. It was born in Jamaica due essentially to all the R&B the country was exposed to from the American military presence after WWII. It deserves mention that I only ever owned a Specials record and a Skatalites compilation, but pretty much everyone had one of those two.)

Caves, a 2-year-old band out of Portland, may be answering said question. And while you might never refer to them as an all-out ska band, you can definitely hear the influence from their syncopated guitars and dub-inflected bass. And yes, they probably owe more to the Police, the Jam, and the Clash, but the lineage remains the same. White guys doing ska...or reggae...or Jamaican, mixed with dance and/or rock. Vampire Weekend recently rode a wave of success for co-opting traditional African sounds, but their record never really did it for me. Caves brings a bouncy attitude to their revivalistic pop tunes and adds a fresh take on a vintage idea. The track below, "Curiosity", is one of the more dub-sounding tracks in their repertoire, with vocalist Jake Carey recalling Sting (with an American accent) quite proficiently; but the hook eventually sinks in.

Their song "Pessimist, Optimist", for which the new video is below, is a bit more interesting.  Glam guitars are juxtaposed with the unmistakable reggae rhythm and 4/4 drumbeats. A soaring chorus swoops in (the guitar solo is a bit cheesy), and dancing ensues. Is this neo-ska? Or post-ragga? You decide.

Caves - Curiosity HERE

Optimist, Pessimist by Caves from Johnny Le on Vimeo.


~ LB, January 13, 2009 Seattle Subsonic