Hookahs of the Cave, a collaboration between Bristol-based instrumental guitarist Danny Riley and drummer Noah Radley, scored points from the press release onwards, with the detail that it was recorded in one night with just two microphones, capturing the essence of the sound they were creating. Sharing a love of drone-inspired music from the likes of Ben Chasny and Om, the pair set about making their own record of longer-form, electric guitar and drum excursions.
The music is nicely varied across five songs and forty or so minutes, with lead single Smoking the Bone a good place to start. The structure here is more rock-inspired, with a steady, muscular drum beat, though Danny’s playing, with some of the higher quack of a Telecaster-style bridge pickup and moderate distortion, veers into acid-tinged, eastern raga-esque music in places. It’s a lot of fun, and the pair really dig into the groove, flexing plenty and ensuring well over nine minutes fly past.
The Wicketkeeper and His Spouse sees a clean guitar signal playing a looser, more tangled line, interspersed with heavy bass-string plucks that bring the low end. Noah has fun here too with a lighter approach but plenty of tempo, giving this one the feel of Bill Orcutt and Chris Corsano playing at their gentlest.
The two side-ending tracks hit two ends of the raucous scale, with Swells Nowhere ramshackle in nature and full of vim and muscle. Noah really goes at the drum kit on this one, only laying off with a minute or so to go, when Danny’s excitable guitar playing slows to bring in persuasive string bends and amp noise. Far sparser is Enclave of Parisian Cash, which sees rumbles of kick drum, like a ‘storm on the horizon mix’, with flashes of cymbal and a more pensive and patient guitar part. Both musicians allow plenty of space here, with the pauses acting as a third instrument and bringing intrigue to the played notes.
The ebbs and flows across this album bring plenty of depth and character to the sound and, whether through restraint or letting loose, showcase the ability of these musicians. It makes for an exciting and confident debut that is addictively listenable.
Hookahs of the Cave is out now via Elastic Furniture ELA014