Love Comes Close (Matador)

One of life’s inevitable truths is that punks grow up. Just look at Cold Cave, the Philadelphia electro-pop outfit fronted by former hardcore screamer Wesley Eisold. While he once shredded his larynx for aggro acts American Nightmare, Give Up the Ghost, and Some Girls, the underground vet has significantly softened his sound.

While it’s commendable that Eisold is broadening his horizons, Love Comes Close suggests he hasn’t quite found its footing. “The Trees Grew Emotions and Died” may be steeped in the frigid synth sounds of the ’80s, but its rudimentary two-note melody and awkwardly jittery keyboard leads come off as someone tinkering with a Casiotone for the first time.

Eisold hasn’t mastered his singing voice yet, either. Although he once commanded attention with his thick-throated bellowing, his robotic, spoken-word delivery of “I’m going to hold you in the hospital” on sex-obsessed number “The Laurels of Erotomania” is just too goofy. It’s not all bad, though. “Hello Rats” has the vocalist unravelling a tale of illness and heartbreak in a baritone deep enough to chill the souls of the Sisters of Mercy.

Interestingly, multi-instrumentalist Caralee McElroy steals the show on solo “Life Magazine”. Cooing brightly over a pounding, four-on-the-floor dance beat and heavily distorted keys, she is a ray of poppy sunshine buried between Eisold’s bleaker numbers.

Though Cold Cave leader Eisold gets points for exploring the world outside of hardcore, Love Comes Close doesn’t hit its mark.