Falling signs, a forgotten riff, and tonal experiments

By Tim Thompson
Editor, Arts & Entertainment

This week’s Cave Café featured the sound of Sfear (headed up by P.W. and Jerm) and Roy G. Biv (Matt, Paul and Noah), who accompanied them. As a prelude to the musical exhibition, the Cave Café neon sign toppled from its precarious perch on a chair and broke. Undaunted, the band took their places and the sound came, coaxed

out through effect pedals and synthesizers (including a vintage moog), giving shape to the candle-scented air of the Fish House. The band began by building a wall of feedback, bassist and guitarist (Jerm and P.W.) facing their amps and reaching hard for the proper shade of modulated frequency. Sustained behind this were the tones of the synthesizers manned by Roy G. Biv, extended chords in the key of D that reminded me of a chanting of the holy syllable OM. This was less a performance than an encounter with sound.

These bands have been playing, trying to shape the sonic shadows, for about three years, and they have gotten adept at creating an atmosphere that’s given to meditating on a vibe. According to P.W., their aim is to create just such a soundscape, something to touch the listener by drawing her into the proper mood for introspection. I was more piqued than drawn in. What was happening was an interesting thing; I thought of composers such as John Tavener, who strive to weave sustained sonic meditations through repeated themes which, instead of moving forward in musical progression, suspend resolution by dwelling on a particular musical thought.

However, I found myself, in the words of one keen observer, “waiting for a riff,” or something more musically definite that I could sink my ears into. This, of course, wasn’t what the “musical exhibition” was about, and tastes will vary on the matter. At any rate, it is an experiment that’s worth experiencing.