Cherish the Light Years (Bonus Track Edition)

Cold Cave’s Wesley Eisold has carefully studied British post-punk of the ‘80s, with a focus on Manchester’s Factory Records and the Hacienda nightclub (fun extra credit assignment to young students: see the films, “24 Hour Party People” and “Control”). He’s Honor Roll material, clearly driven with a passion that makes one wonder if Eisold is actually “Madchester” scene co-founder/impresario Tony Wilson incarnate. Cherish the Light Years is even bolder than 2009’s Love Comes Close in reclaiming and reshaping the adolescent angst-wrought sounds of that era. In between the crisp, dance-floor incantations of “Catacombs” and the sinister, industrial-flavored “Burning Sage,” a handful of surprises boosts Cold Cave to new heights. “Alchemy and You” is a more contemporary sounding, horn-adorned blast of energy, “Confetti” is a perfectly crafted melancholy swirl of glittering synths, and the thunderous, anthemic tracks “The Great Pan is Dead” and “Villains of the Moon” make superb bookends, with the closing track imparting that triumphant note of hope that is the core of so many great pop songs.