Caveman

To avoid the infamous \"sophomore jinx,\" Brooklyn\'s Caveman took a subtler, blurrier approach with its self-titled second album. Where the group\'s drummer and percussionist clearly guided things on Caveman\'s debut, *CoCo Beware*, the keyboardist and two guitarists ramp up the effects and take over for the follow-up. Singer Matthew Iwanusa floats past with an innocent, Brian Wilson–like timbre, but the lyrics are a secondary focal point here. Thick washes of chords dominate the album, as evidenced by the otherwise straightforward \"The Big Push.\" Even \"In the City,\" with its title swiped from British mods The Jam, sounds more like Windham Hill meets My Morning Jacket than nearly any band on the Fat Possum record label, which Caveman now calls home. \"Shut You Down\" evokes the lazy afternoon feel of Rain Parade, from the \'80s Southern California Paisley Underground movement. \"Where\'s the Time\" builds from solitary vocal lines to an enthusiastic cathedral of sound with enough bounce to keep things alive. Soothing sounds, pleasant melodies, an unhurried pace; Caveman handles its evolution with bright new textures and convincing songs.

Following 2011's CoCo Beware, the N.Y. five-piece Caveman have tweaked their folksy template, embracing the spacey expanses and mournful, low-key melodies only hinted at on their debut.

New York five-piece Caveman return with a more focused second album. They keep the four-part harmonies but this is a record that focuses on the cosmic rather than the folk-pop of their first release.

Caveman's debut, CoCo Beware, initially self-released but reissued by Fat Possum Records in 2012, was a sweeping, ethereal album that recalled Plants and Animals' 2008 album Parc Avenue and the work of Fleet Foxes.