There seems to be a bit of a roots revival movement going on in the U.S. these days. Artists such as O'Death, Deer Tick, and - a semi-recent favorite of mine - The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, are resurrecting old time American folk music. Contrary to what one might expect, however, this revival is not radiating from the deep south, but rather from places like Brooklyn, Providence and Indianapolis. And now Seattle's The Cave Singers have added their contribution to the trend with their debut album Invitation Songs.With all three band members hailing from very art/post-punk and garage rock roots (Pretty Girls Make Graves, Murder City Devils, Hint Hint and Cobra High), we have to wonder where all this newfound folkiness has come from. Label Matador proclaims: "They never listened to much folk music, they never intended to play folk music, and more importantly, their guitarist never picked up the instrument until recently". The guitarist referred to is former Pretty Girls Make Graves bassist Derek Fudesco, and he does a fine job getting around his lack of experience through relatively simplistic plucking, strumming and chord changes. Singer Pete Quirk's voice has a very timeless quality to it; he sounds like an early Bob Dylan/Gordon Gano hybrid who just stumbled out of the Appalachian Mountains. Marty Lund holds the whole outfit together with his exceptional percussion work.For a band who never listened to nor intended to make folk music, The Cave Singers certainly are adept at creating it. From the click-clacking scrape of the washboard on 'Dancing On Our Graves' to the toe-tap inducing guitar strum, tambourine and harmonica of the immensely likable 'Oh Christine', these Invitation Songs are just begging to be sung around a campfire. But don't let The Cave Singers fool you”¦ despite the overall folky feel to the album, an astute ear and perhaps a good pair of headphones reveal several instances of this non-folk band behaving, well, in a very non-folk manner. The whimsical 'Seeds Of Night' is a gospel-tinged affair that reveals some heavy guitar chords that are more post-punk than folk, as well as the warm intonation of a trumpet. The percussion-less 'Helen' is accentuated by the whirr of a synthesizer panning from left to right. 'Royal Lawns' features some rather eerie reverb-drenched caterwauling in its background and album closer 'Called' is ensconced in a ghostly atmosphere created through layering vocals and the bleat of a trombone.The simplistic and moderately schizophrenic nature of Invitation Songs could easily have resulted in tediousness, or perhaps worse: a genre-jumping disaster. Yet for a band with no folk experience to speak of, The Cave Singers have managed to put together an impressive, and indeed inviting, set of ten songs on their debut. 80%mp3:> The Cave Singers: 'Seeds of Night'Links The Cave Singers [label] [myspace]