I’ve been enamoured with Carnations’ live set after seeing them a bunch of times over the last twelve months and it sure is nice to have a small bouquet of recordings.
Post-punk without the mock seriousness, and with actual SONGS; not just dark/cold vibes but with hooks, great lyrics, and arrangements. Classic 4AD inspired tracks but pointing in other directions from Peter Buck’s winding guitar lines in early R.E.M. singles to the rock-solid drive of The Sound to downtown New York danceable no wave.
There’s something to the group’s approach and music that makes me think of Los Angeles (and not just because more recently they’ve included a song in their live set about that city)—hints of Ed Ruscha and John Baldessari, Eve Babitz and Chris Kraus—a drama, dry humour, and almost campy post-pop surface sheen to the music that has no illusions about any underlying darkness/weirdness.
I could go on, but trying to keep it short and punchy‚ looking forward to more!
-Mitch