Caves

Lou Hanman, after quitting Flamingo 50 and shifting from Liverpool to Bristol, crossed paths with drummer Dave Brent at a punk gig he had put together in her new city, sparking the formation of Caves in 2009. Brent’s flatmate initially filled the bass role, with Jonathan Minto completing the lineup in 2010. Absent any fixed itinerary, the trio simply booked local shows for enjoyment and soon attracted a loyal audience to their high-energy punk approach. European dates followed, along with a 2010 appearance at Fest, Florida’s punk festival, while the band also dropped a self-titled debut EP and joined Calvinball, Pure Graft, and Big City Plan on a four-way single. After a mainland Europe tour, they entered the studio for three days early in 2011 to lay down their first album, Homeward Bound, which surfaced that July and triggered another round of touring capped by a November return to Fest. In 2012 the group shared bills with Sundials—following their split single from the year before—and Pennsylvania’s Spraynard, then revisited Fest before tracking the follow-up album Betterment in 2013; the record received strong notices upon its July release.