Let’s get out of the way some unique features of this album: it’s not available on any streaming service except for Bandcamp. So far, the physical release is only available there as well. The tour in support of the album will be at independent venues that do not charge audience members exorbitant service fees in addition to ticket prices. Knowing only that information, I figured I would find something I liked on it and I was correct. I’m not sure I would have learned about it if not for the distinguishing factors of its release or promotion, so that reveals me as an easy mark. It’s icky to feel marketed to, but these choices are reflective of a disdain for the typical label promo fare, review hype, and algorithmic nudges. That heart-on-sleeve earnestness permeates the songs; this is a record that CAROLINE ROSE had to make.
There’s an intimacy in ordering something online and not getting a tracking number or being added to a mailing list or being asked to review the purchase once it has arrived. I love that this record is the result of an online purchase that did not result in any of those things. I bought it on Bandcamp Friday in March of this year. In April, her account messaged customers to say that the record would ship soon. That was it. The package showed up last week and the mailer had ink stamps of a slug and a rose. It was a nice surprise to get home from work and see the LP in my house. I didn’t get 75 phone or email notifications about it throughout the day as it cycled through the delivery steps. Still, it arrived as expected.
I’ve listened to it plenty via the app in the past two months and have really come to enjoy it. (The vinyl sounds like it should; no crappy mastering job here!) There’s a variety of styles in the 11 songs that might not be immediately apparent from the sparse and plaintive sounds of the first two tracks. The uptempo gallop of “Goddamn Train” and its incessant repetition of “gotta” in almost every line slams to a halt with the shoegaze-y strumming of “Antigravity Struggle.” Something about the chord progression in the latter recalls “Crimson and Clover,” to boot.
The reason these contrasting sounds work with each other instead of being a jarring clash is that this is solo record through and through. A full band that swings from sound to sound like this seems like a group in need of a direction. A single person going through the same moods and sounds seems only natural. We all contain multitudes, etc., and these various sounds are a reflection of different sides of the same person’s lived experiences. Eclecticism in an individual is a sign of taste or character or quality, but in a group, it’s a sign that no one is in charge and all members are not moving toward a goal together. CAROLINE ROSE has a vision in mind and the force of her personality shines through.
The part of me that loved PIEBALD and SOOPHIE NUN SQUAD in high school doesn’t come out much these days, but it’s still there. This record makes me think of that kind of cut-and-run, scrappy, whatever-it-takes feeling that more “serious” music and “adult” pursuits beat out of me over time. Like, it’s fine to have a song called “Everything In Its Right Place” lead off your album and not be RADIOHEAD from 2001. It’s finer still to have that song contain the rhyme “Baja Blast, Crunchwrap Supreme / Potato Soft Taco with Cheese.” It’s finest to take yourself unseriously and I’m glad I have this record to remind me of that truth.
The record did not come with an insert, so I made one myself.
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