Coco Beware

*CoCo Beware*, the 2011 debut by the Brooklyn indie rock quintet Caveman, is a seductively somber and beautifully human-sounding album that plays with equal parts wide-eyed wonder and smoldering self-doubt. “A Country’s King of Dreams” sets the tone with slow, roomy drums that pulse over keyboard drones as acoustic guitars and electric six-string feedback balance each other out. The following “Decide” grooves slowly on a subtly buoyant rhythm that sits back and lets the flowing vocal melodies drive. The guitars on “My Time” resonate coolly with vintage wooden tones that pedal like a Velvet Underground tune. Contrasting this classic New York sound are the Pacific Northwest–style nasal-toned vocals of singer Matthew Iwanusa. Throughout *CoCo Beware*, he coos with a lullaby-friendly voice; check out “December 28th,” where he sings shadowy harmonies so sublime that they blend in with the accompaniment like another instrument. Those lush four-part harmonies play a pretty big part on Caveman’s debut, most noticeably on the soothing “Easy Water” and the closing dirge “My Room.”

For a band that fits so snugly into the cubbyhole of beach pop, Caveman sure is restless to break out. The Brooklyn quintet’s debut, CoCoBeware, doesn’t fundamentally expand on what beach-pop groups like Best Coast and Real Estate have accomplished over the past couple years—namely, baking batches of languid jangle…

"Listenable" is the best way to describe Caveman’s debut album, CoCo Beware. The album, with all of its clacking drums,…

Caveman 'Coco' album review on Northern Transmissions. 'Coco' by Caveman is now available on Fat Possum Records