The Cavemen

The Cavemen are a garage band from New Zealand with a ton of releases to their name. You know the style: it’s abrasive, it’s risqué, and full o’ swagger. But it’s also catchy, highly energetic and upbeat -- perversely positive, if you will.

This 4-song EP runs at about 10 minutes (to be generous) and delivers a wallop. Fittingly titled Euthanise Me the songs are crude-but-kinda cute, balancing a tightrope that avoids shock rock while being clever and still relatable, with some human emotion and metaphor buried behind lyrics like “You ain’t nothing but roadkill to me…I wanna eat your heart and wear your face” or “It’s a nightmare/ Every time I see you/ I lose control.”

Fans of fast, sloppy and machismo garage-rock should check this out. It checks all the style boxes while also managing to sound just different enough from cut to cut to be distinct, which isn’t something I can say for a lot of bands in this genre. “Euthanise Me” establishes the mood, the cannibal-themed “Eat Your Heart & Wear Your Face” is the real standout here, with a silly-as-heck theme and nice guitar work, the arguably sweet “Nightmare” reeks of testosterone, and “Over You” is the heartbroken ballad, of sorts.

8.0 / 10 — Loren