| · Good times a-plenty!
Who starts off a rock record with a song a cappella (excluding Queen)? Well, these guys can. This fabulous record transported me back to days when I lay on a shag-rug rumpus-room floor with headphones on, digging through a milk crate full of wicked records from the ’60s and ’70s. Elvis Costello’s vintage catchy guitar and thumping, driving rhythms courtesy of Neil Young and Crazy Horse meet unsuspecting Beatle-eque arrangements. The Carnations offer an enjoyably diverse album that lets you drift off to that special place that only pop music can take you.
But fear not, indie rock fans – "Kick It Out" incorporates unforced trumpet and sax while "Brushcut" shows off singer-bassist Thomas D’Arcy’s rockstar scream brilliantly. All of this is produced by the bassist for college favourite The Weakerthans,John P. Sutton, and clocks in at less than 40 minutes. Solid.
I’d be remiss not to mention the mid-’80s Flaming Lips/Husker Du record art. Anyone who sticks a cathead on a human body – holding a top hat no less – is all right with me.
4/5
CHRISTOPHER MARKOWSKY
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