Friendship
Caveman Wakes Up
Merge
Could 16, 2025
Net Unique
The Dan Wriggins-fronted ensemble Friendship is again for his or her fifth album and second since signing with Merge. Ever adjoining to his compadres at Pricey Life Information, Jon Samuels (MJ Lenderman), Peter Gill (2nd Grade), and Michael Cormier (Hour) are the gamers that flesh out the sound on Caveman Wakes Up. And flesh it out they do. When the band totally gels on songs just like the latter half of “Wildwood in January,” “Resident Evil,” and “Tree of Heaven,” the album reaches its most elevated moments.
“Tree of Heaven” brilliantly encapsulates the remoted feeling of being outdoors of church on a Sunday morning. “I’ll at all times recall, voices of the choir, breaching the partitions,” Wriggins intones whereas the band offers a martial stomp interlaced with an atonal violin line. The sense of dwelling outdoors of the phrase is palpable in these moments. “Resident Evil” is the standout monitor, with guitars that poke and prod on the melody, à la Neil Younger’s Loopy Horse, and intermittently give solution to quick bursts of suggestions. “By no means dreamed I’d find yourself right here, by no means dreamed what I might do to remain alive,” emotes an applicable stage of dread in lockstep with the music’s instrumentation. Whether or not “who’s that shithead in my front room, enjoying Resident Evil?” has any intent at humor or not it makes for a compelling punch line.
Wriggins’ unvarnished baritone can take some getting used to. Like an urbanized James McMurtry, Wriggins’ vocals carry a boomy gravitas such that each line is totally heard. A lot of his songs discover the frequent man wrestling with the crush of the mundane. So traces like “felt the beating coronary heart of God, laying down a roll of sod,” on the draggy “All Over the World” land bluntly. Likewise, “Free Affiliation” and the next “Hole Skulls” deal within the drudgery of the day after day. “I used to have somebody, she would get house from work, we’d put one thing on, and complain about work,” goes “Free Affiliation.” The doubling down on “work” makes its personal joyless level. However even when distress loves firm, just like the bar within the music, a few of these tracks make for a tough place to hang around via repeated listens.
Higher is the bass heavy bop of “Love Vape,” the place Wriggins’ imagery of the true life Philly smoke store breathes life into the music. “They nonetheless offer you plastic luggage, and the rolling shutters lined in tags,” he sings over a brighter melody. Much like songs off of 2022’s Love the Stranger, like “St. Bonaventure” and “Chomp Chomp,” the messages could also be critical, however the music offers for a dose of respite. Partly, Caveman Wakes Up comes right down to how you want your cup of actuality served. Black and bitter or with a touch of restraint. (www.friendshipphl.bandcamp.com)
Creator ranking: 6.5/10
