Cave: Hunt Like Devil/JAMZ EP

Let’s face it… it’s hard to do repetition well. This is why so many techno acts fail to make a big impression: they simply rehash the same idea over and over again. If you’re a band, you can sometimes use this to your advantage (the way songs by the Fall frequently appear to built out of one simple riff). Then there’s Cave. Formed by some of the guys from Warhammer 48K, Cave is focused more on the repetitious nature of hard psych-rock (think Iron Butterfly after a ’90s alt-rock bender). This glorious double-EP features both the best and worst that we can expect from the band, as the four-part “Hunt Like Devil” suite can differ between grating noise suites (filled with pointless sci-fi riff noodling) and totally engaging, surprising moments (glockenspiel breakdown?! Awesome!). Tracks like “Annihilated Sludge Flow” only need to be heard once in your lifetime, but other songs like the nostalgia-aping “Hunt Like Devil #4” and the surprisingly groovy “Drum Live Devil” are welcome additions to any hard-rock playlist. But like any good kind of repetition, it’s not too hard to see yourself seeing this band live again and again and again…