Cavewoman - Becoming Animal

Cavewoman

Becoming Animal
Burn All Records; 2015

4.0 out of 5

By Jack Dickinson

The history of rock n’ roll is filled with stories of troubadour musicians spending their formative years hustling and struggling before they make an artistic breakthrough.  Before breaking into America in 1964, The Beatles spent the early part of the decade in Hamburg playing gigs in dingy, German strip clubs while hopped up on amphetamines with very little sleep and not making any money.

Fletcher Reveley has spent the first half of the 2010s following that artistic path. After quitting a dead on job, Reveley spent periods living in his car, hitchhiking and relied on the kindness of friends and strangers. No matter where Reveley was living, he always had a few items with him. These items were a notepad, his computer, a microphone and a cheap guitar with a small amplifier. Using these materials, Reveley would write and record songs, some of which ended up on Cavewoman’s 2012 debut LP Nomadic War Machine.

Recently Reveley has based the Cavewoman project in New Orleans, LA and with help from friends Danny Bobbe and members of the California based indie band LA Font, Cavewoman recorded a new record called Becoming Animal, which was released in mid April of this year on Burn All Records, a label created by Reveley and friends and features other bands such as Meade Morgan & the Misdemeanors and Travis Seahorn. 

Despite Reveley’s admission that this was a project recorded all over the place with most mixing and mastering down on a laptop, Becoming Animal has a nice, smooth garage rock sound that seems musically influenced by the likes of Lou Reed and the Rolling Stones.

The Velvet Underground influence is notable on tracks like “Middle of the Night” and “Confess When I Have To,” both of which sound like they could belong on Loaded.  “Prim Rose” has some hypnotic guitar leads with a stomping, garage-rocky backbeat. Country rock fans have something to look forward to when listening to tracks like “Genghis the Rat” and “Visions Fading.”

At this moment, Reveley and the other members of Cavewoman are putting together a summer tour. With the way this record sounds, many music fans will be curious to hear what they sound like live. Let’s hope they post the tour dates soon.

bandcamp

record label

Tweet