Believe in the Power of Cave In

Cave In plays Austin, Texas on May 15, 2022, some 22 years after I first saw them in Austin.

In the fall of 2019, which feels ages ago but actually was not, we went to see the Fugazi off-shoot Messthetics in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Joe Lally, Brendan Canty, in a Masonic Lodge mere feet away from the final resting place of Mel Blanc (who voiced Bugs Bunny), with Henry Rollins in the audience and Ian F. Svenonious opening up the show. It all sounds like a bizarre dream that I got to actually live through. But a few songs in, I decided it was too loud, then worried about traffic, and left. That was the last time I saw live music.

It’s now almost halfway through 2022, and although the pandemic restrictions started easing up last year, I was still on the fence about going to see live music, mostly because I didn’t want to get sick but also because I had become mildly worried about mass shootings in group gatherings. I passed on Quicksand last fall. I just wasn’t ready for it. I’ve loved them for over 30 years. And if there was ever a band that I’d drop everything for amid multiple global crises, it’s Fugazi in the top position and Quicksand not far behind. Fugazi hasn’t toured since 2001 and even when I was paying to see select members in 2019, I was taking it for granted. And Quicksand, even though I saw them in 2017 and loved their new record, well, quarantine apprehension froze me in my tracks like Cameron Frye’s car scene in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.’

“I’ll go, I’ll go, I’ll go, shit…”

Sunday, May, 15, 2022, over two and a half years since I last heard a guitar monitor in person, Cave In rescued me. And I’m ever-so-grateful.

There have been many layers of Cave In throughout their 27 year history….

1. They started with two albums of metal-tinged hardcore that hinted at grander ideas.
2. They quickly entered into an era of prog-rock, and their seminal album “Jupiter” combined elements of guitar-laden, spacious, psychedelic rock with melody.
3. “Jupiter” then gained worldwide acclaim, and the band expanded even further by embracing acoustic jams and more guitar effects, which led to a prolific outpouring of more melodic songs, and a record with RCA.
4. They re-embraced their heavier roots, which led to a split with RCA, and a newfound freedom to explore the polarizing boundaries of prog and hardcore. (To this day, “Perfect Pitch Black” gets played in its entirety by me often.)
5. They went on a hiatus, then collectively opened up songwriting duties among the group more evenly, leaving Caleb Scofield and Adam McGrath to write the majority of “White Silence” while also sneaking in ‘Spaceballs’ references.

Following several years of downtime in between records, tragedy struck the band. In 2018, bass player Caleb Scofield was killed in an auto accident. I remember where I was in Bristol, Connecticut when I heard the news, and it hit hard, thinking this band was probably over without Scofield to continue.

But the remaining members of the band decided to celebrate his legacy by playing benefit shows for his family, with Nate Newton of Converge filling in on bass. Then they released a heartbreaking final record with Scofield’s contributions, entitled “Final Transmission,” featuring songs they had written together in their final band practices with him. It sounded rough, it sounded beautiful, it sounded necessary.

And now, with Newton remaining as a full-time member, they are on the cusp of a new record (“Heavy Pendulum”) with a new label (Relapse) and a new lease on the band. I would never attempt to read anything into Scofield’s death, but it’s as though the remaining members of the band keep pushing forward because it’s a direct connection back to their friend: a living tribute to his memory. And that feeling overwhelmed me as I watched Nate Newton play bass and sing Scofield’s lyrics last night.

It was heavy, necessary and beautiful, and it’s allowed for Cave In to continue their evolution as a musical outfit. Last night, I didn’t worry about the volume or the traffic. I stayed because Cave In is an inspiration; as people, as musicians, and as a force of pushing forward.

I stayed because I believe.

You can and should purchase “Heavy Pendulum” here.