Cave In
Tides of Tomorrow

Reviewing an EP lets you really feel cool. There are only a few tracks, so if you do a track-by-track review, they can't criticize you too much. Also, if you don't like the album, you can always hide behind the little life-saving shield: "But it's an EP! Come on!"

Reviewing an EP exposes you to great difficulties. There are only a few tracks, so you have less room to maneuver, and the review struggles. Also, if you don't like the record, the critics can always back you into a corner and bury you alive.

"Tides Of Tomorrow" (2002 @ Hydra Head Records) comes out between Jupiter and Antenna, and as far as I'm concerned, the Cave In could have easily pitched their tents and lived off the spoils by staying frozen in this state (of grace... you're welcome... don't mention it!). Steve Brodsky has been simultaneously the greatest friend of Cave In (like *man’s best friend) and their worst enemy (like acne for Britney Spears). With his pop-rock influences, he branded the highest point of their production, subsequently causing their avalanche-style tumble into the abyss. But for what, then??? A "Stephen Brodsky's Octave Museum" never realized!?!? Grrr!! Let's see what he'll do with "*Pet Genius".

Just two songs would be enough to trim the summit climbed by Cave In with golden white candor: "Tides Of Tomorrow" & "The Calypso", the perfect songs. Those songs that anyone would want to hear at least three times a day, after meals. Guitar work above average, higher up. I said higher up! A Brodsky more inspired than ever in the lyrics painting waterfalls, beaches, sun, sea. Ascending climaxes that rival the morning erection ("Sleepy Sunday morning, afternoons in the sun. Monday is waiting, waiting its turn" - "Tides Of Tomorrow"). It's like when you reach the top and know you have to see something breathtaking but don't drop your jaw until you have it right in front of you. And if beyond the mountain you find an island? A lotus flower, and you don't know what memory is anymore ("But now I'm feeling we should never leave this place" - "The Calypso"). "Come Into Your Own", "Dark Driving" serve as a base camp for the climb with a relentless march, the first, and a gloomy cave bass, the second. "The Callus" is the hasty desire to shake off the cold and dive into the warmth of rest ("And I tried to shake off all the cold in my hands"). You land and observe the feat with pride. Yes, that is the "Everest" for musicians. And the acoustic guitar seems like the one around which to tell your adventures. But at the end of the story, did we place the flag at the top? Oh, crap...! Brodskyyyyyyyyyy, damn it, where are you?!?

Dreamy explorer rock, to find a place to stay, not to change... no... please, don't change... no... nooo! Ahn, Ahn (porno movie onomatopoeia). Oh God, tell me it was just a nightmare! No, the Cave In are gone! Forever.