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😄 carnivara / backpain review

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genre: rock
release date: 04/10/24
runtime: 3:24
video: no :(

contents

• 😄 carnivara / backpain review

  • what i like

  • what i don't like

  • my drunk opinion

  • for fans of

  • should you listen to more

• more i’ve been listening to

• next edition out next tuesday!

helloooooo everyone and welcome to another edition! gonna be a quick one this eve as it’s been a very long day for me and on top of that, i keep getting complaints that these are too long and i’ve been intentionally trying to push how much i’m writing so tryna strike a wee balance here. also, quick bit of housekeeping before we start; putting a ban in place on ai packshots or album artwork being submitted to the database. if you submit one i will ignore it. sick of that shit, it looks bad, your music deserves better than that, put some effort in and don’t be using midjourney or whatever to slop your way into this newsletter. this newsletter is real human art only. besides, the visual parts of music making are some of the most fun to make! at least in my experience anyway. taking the time to get a cool shot or produce an image that says something and makes something new or whatever is fun! you should try it instead of using the easy option of typing some nonsense into an ai. that out the way, let’s look at this weeks song! also lol didn’t i just say i’d be tryna keep this svelte. anyway, this weeks song is from australia if you hadn’t gathered, but it is also, some might say, from my future because gang lemme tell you i am curled up like a prawn rn, and that’s fine that’s cool i am okay with that. anyway, it’s a groovy rocky wee number by a band called carnivara, check it out!

this song plays with you a little bit. the way it teases and slowly introduces elements in a way that makes them have a little moment before retreating away again is a really fun songwriting device. you can see this in the vocal performance too which is kinda refreshing, it’s not a song sung at one level of intensity or energy, instead the artist flirts about with a few different ideas before committing to something powerful towards the end which i think is really neat. the repeated lyrics and motifs help reinforce that givin the song a sense that it’s building to something but also giving things space to breathe. i also really enjoy the moments where this song has a bunch of really contrasting ideas just hanging out. the intro is a great example of this, a face melting solo against a laxidaisical rhythmn section is very funny, and sounds rad. well done to those lads. p.s. i love the electric piano that’s grooving around in this song a lot, it’s a lot of fun and adds a lot to the tones and ideas of the track.

as much as i enjoyed the vocal work playing about, and i did! i swear i did, i am not going to complain about it because let me just say, this singer has some pipes. and at times towards the end of the song when they’re really going for it it absolutely soars, however. not all of the performance is that good, and some of the early bits struggle quite a bit especailly compared to what this vocalist can do. i almost feel like this is a vocalist that needs to be paired with someone else, because there are parts of this performance that are amazing, and parts that are less so.

back pain scares me so much man like i think about it all the time. i think i’ll be okay because i stretch and work out a lot and like do the things but idk, i turn 30 in a few weeks and that’s where it all comes in innit. scary stuff! scary scary stuff. guess we’ll wait and see won’t we.

there’s only one act that i can compare these guys to in my brain, and that is the late, the great, militarie gun. they’re not late or anything, i just thought that sounded cool, just like them as a band. they’ve got a lot of similarities going on, but where these guys have some more fun and goofy sounds going on mg are a bit more serious in their music. and that’s cool! okay, even, it’s okay dokay.

there’s a moment in one of this bands other songs, mute, where they manage to take the main melody of a guitar solo into the final chorus as something the whole band is working with and developing, and it' absolutely rules. it’s big, it’s bold and it rules. this is a band that has some chops, and in this song they’re experimenting with their sound, and i honestly think they’re cooking. maybe a few more releases before we get something truly goign to pop off, but not long until then i don’t think.

or better yet, reply to this email! what did you think of this song? have you been listening to anything good lately? any gems i’ve missed?

more i’ve been listening to

dear rogue / not afraid to dance

damn i was so mad this artist is too big to be properly featured here, because they’re really good and so is this

disclosure / she’s gone, dance on

those disclosure boys sure know what they’re doing don’t they

high vis / mind’s a lie

this song is like the audio equivalent of chips in ice cream, it works, somehow

or just reply to this email! what did you think? what would you change? how are you?

next edition out next tuesday!