Quarantine With Caveman
“Just the light leads me back again”
Caveman is an indie rock/pop band from Brooklyn, NY, that formed back in 2010. The first time I saw them play was at SXSW in 2013. They were playing the former Emo’s outdoor venue on “Dirty 6th“ here in Austin, that has legendary status. I miss that spot. I saw so many amazing concerts before Emo’s moved to a larger venue.
After that particular set, I caught up with and had a drink with the band. To tell you they were nice, regular, and chill dudes would be an understatement. While I was already a fan of Caveman, this interaction solidified them as a band I’d always follow.
Later that year, they came back through town and opened for Ra Ra Riot, ironically, at the new Emo’s location. Travis and I hit up that show, as we’re both also huge Ra Ra Riot fans. Once again, Caveman were hanging out after the show and we got the chance to chat with them for a bit. Was only a few months later, but they were still ridiculously chill and good dudes.
It has been a quiet 4 years since 2016’s solid effort, Otero War. Funny story about this album….despite my preordering a vinyl copy in 2016, I never heard the second half of the album until 2020. Chalk it up to bad luck, but my particular copy had the first half of the album pressed on BOTH sides of the record. Needless to say, 2020 has brought me two new sides from Caveman.
The other is from their re-emergence with the 5/1 release titled New Sides. They refer to this EP as “rarities for quarantine listening,“ but also that they have “many more new releases later into the year.“
Funny story about Otero War….despite my preordering a vinyl copy in 2016, I never heard the second half of the album until 2020. Chalk it up to bad luck, but my particular copy had the first half of the album pressed on BOTH sides of the record. Needless to say, 2020 has brought me two new sides from Caveman.
An underrated band this good, who are also good dudes (at least from my experience) deserve more attention. I’m excited to hear that my luck might be turning, and we might truly get new Caveman in 2020.
-Josh
A live recording of 2013’s “In The City,“ the song that started it all for me
An acoustic live version of the infectious “80 West“ from 2016’s Otero War
