With an eldritch atmosphere of pulsing lights, synth-soaked sounds and dark poetics, Cold Cave and Buzz Kull kept it crepuscular at Conduit.
Sydney, Australia’s Marc Dwyer of Buzz Kull played the essentials from albums New Kind of Cross and Fascination. Buzz Kull’s industrial hums and flickering lights drew in and won over an otherwise partisan crowd. Well played.
“It’s good to see familiar faces,” said Cold Cave’s Wes Eisold warmly, greeting the crowd like old friends. “This is why we come back.”
Writer and Cold Cave frontman Eisold led the band through songs from their 2024 album Passion Depression and old favorites like “Youth and Lust,” “A Little Death to Laugh” and “Confetti.”
At one point between songs, Eisold asked the crowd to shut their eyes and envision a world of peace. It was a reminder of the hope buried deep within the band’s fatalistic anthems.
Cold Cave closed their set with a performance of “Promised Land” wrapped in lush synths and an ethereal finality. Eisold handed a gift to a fan who seemed to know every word to every song they played.
“Oh shit, it’s the Cold Cave perfume,” someone in the crowd shouted.
The fan held a half-used bottle of Eisold’s personal Cold Cave perfume for a moment in disbelief, and with a growing smile he shoved it in his pocket. The wholesomeness of this moment hung in the air alongside the scent of fog juice and Newports.
