The New Music

Who: Cold Cave

Sounds like: Bored art school students throwing loft parties in Berlin, trying to recreate their favourite 12-inches from synth-pop’s golden era (1979 – 85) with cheap Casios and distortion pedals.

RIYL: Cabaret Voltaire, New Order, Depeche Mode, The Knife, Art Of Noise, Human League, Throbbing Gristle, Soft Cell, Durutti Column, Junior Boys, Heaven 17, Tubeway Army, darkwave, none of Wes Eisold’s previous bands

Need to know: Before Cold Cave, founder Wes Eisold was a member of hardcore/noise bands like Some Girls, American Nightmare, XO Skeletons, Give Up the Ghost, Taylor Bow and Ye Olde Maids. Fall Out Boy were accused of plagiarizing Eisold’s lyrics on Infinity On High; they gave him songwriting credits on three songs and later called him “Inspirador” on their next album, From Under The Cork Tree. Other members in the group include Sarah Lipstate (formerly of Parts and Labor), Dominick Fernow (Prurient) and Caralee McElroy (formerly of Xiu Xiu). The band’s debut album Love Comes Close was originally released this summer through Eisold’s Heartworm Press imprint; Matador re-released it this week.

Track: Taken from their recent Death Comes Close EP, “Theme From Tomorrowland” is one of the group’s more dynamic songs. A driving techno beat and zealous synths converge to give Eisold and McElroy the right amount of post-punk muscle to accompany their burning harmonies.

Buy: You can get a free copy of Death Comes Close when you buy Matador’s re-release of Love Comes Close.