Cold Cave

Bands go a couple ways on followups to killer albums: Some are caught up in lofty ambition and determination that this album will be perfect (sad face, Fleet Foxes). Others are so stifled by their own fantastic precedent that they sidestep disappointment by shitting out something no one understands (MGMT). Cold Cave's Wesley Eisold went the former route for Cherish the Light Years. It's broad in scope and monolithic in execution. Huge beats collide with huge hooks and huge, heartsore emotion. At his best, Eisold sells you on his eroticized depression and maniacal attention to detail. At his worst, he's hemmed in by the same things, and the overworked production and mixing comes off like the Killers or She Wants Revenge when he's going for the Cure or Nine Inch Nails. But Cherish proves Eisold is no flash in the pan; tracks like "Underworld USA" and "Confetti" remind us that this is still the guy responsible for Love Comes Close, and he's still kind of a genius.