Monday 17 August 2009

Cave In - Planets Of Old

So it's 2009 and Cave In have just got back together after about three years to crank out a new EP called 'Planets Of Old'. Being a sucker for all of their previous records, I picked one up. Musically, it's interesting. It kind of mixes all of their different sounds and eras together. I'm not sure if it works to be honest... although in trying to work out if I like it or not, I have listened to it several times, and I want to keep going back to it. So I guess that, yes, it's growing on me. Visually though, it's a bit disappointing. The front cover is ok:

Although I'm not so into the back:

As for the sticker on the cover, I don't know whether to laugh or cry:

It describes the colour of the vinyl as "Green Tea Frozen Yogurt"... presumably because if it was just called "green" someone might buy it and then sue the label for false advertising when they took the record out and it looked nothing like the colour of their front lawn. Anyway, I'm going to give Hydrahead the benefit of the doubt on this one, and conclude that this is a joke designed to poke fun at modern record collectors who feel the need to describe the shade of the record like they're looking for a specific shade of paint. I mean, this has to be just about the most retarded name for a vinyl colour of all time.

Also, whilst I'm whinging, I'd just like to pick fault with the sleeve of this record. It's made of super thick, glossy card. "Why would he complain about that?" you may wonder. Well, because it makes the sleeve pretty much useless, that's why. The card is so thick that it is not actually possible to fit the record inside. It's been a couple of years now since Hydrahead started making these sleeves, and it's starting to irritate me. Call me old fashioned, but I actually like to put my records in their sleeves. If someone could please take this up with Hydrahead on my behalf, I'd be really grateful. Thanks.

The other highlight of this record has nothing to do with the record. It's the mailer that it came in. Seriously - how good is this?

3 comments:

jhulud said...

I really dig this release. It definitely does mix all of their sounds from previous releases. Check out the recorded date on the liner notes...

Doug W said...

I got the white with green burst they ended up calling pistachio or something. I wonder if they came up with something kooky for black.

Ben said...

The colour I got was "all natural vanilla pistachio ice cream". Hydrahead are most certainly taking the piss.