Caboladies, Caboladies (side A)

Caboladies' self-titled 2010 LP collects tracks from CD-Rs and cassettes released in 2007 and 2008.  While the group is now a duo, these recordings from their formative years featured a third member, Ben Zoeller.  The album contains 5 pieces.  I assume that they're improvised, as each track explores a fairly uniform palette, without any sense of purposeful movement or evolution.  The synthesizers make a set of sounds until they stop.  While this approach borrows from contemporary groups like Wolf Eyes (whose Robert Beatty provided the cover design), the palette references 80s industrial-tinged analog synth music within Caboladies' more contemporary approach.  All of the sounds are very bright and present with almost no low-end, but fortunately also with little harshness.  Beatty's cover design, which is reproduced on a nice, glossy insert, reminds me of the packaging favored by groups like Lightning Bolt and Wolf Eyes—while it looks great, it does not reflect any of Caboladies' creative differentiation.