22 Dec 2024
Carb On Carb - Album Review: Carb on Carb
22 May 2015 // A review by Andrew Smit
If you deserve a good pop punk thrashing then Carb on Carb
will be the best to administer it with their debut self-titled collection of
upbeat emo punk rock. The two piece boy/girl team of James Stuteley and Nicole Gaffney deliver quite a positive style of emo
punk where the energy and character of their vocals over the fast and practically
funky rhythms really keep your blood flowing. With a healthy heart beat the tracks grind with relentless passion,
full of Nicole’s high energy harmonic guitar strummed in rapid sync with James’
frenetic drumming, liberating a really dynamic burst of progressive new age punk.
Taking turns with lead vocals gives the album a nice variety, James and Nicole’s singing really wraps and bends around the fast beats providing a smoother tuneful flow to the crunchy guitars and drums. The subtle changes in tempo and drum styles mixed with either strummed or picked guitar keeps you attentive to the tunes progressions, showcased best in songs like Not Cute Anymore, People I Don’t Like and Smash. The song themes are set in the real world and don’t get too angry or dark, and with common place topics like People I Don’t Like there is a little something there for everyone.
Carb on Carb have delivered a great mix of old and new age emo punk rock, with its hypnotic rhythm and sparkly harmonics it’s a real trip worth taking.
About Carb On Carb
Relentless touring won over fans across Australasia and the band temporarily relocated to Australia in 2017. This time away drew the band’s focus back to home with their celebrated second album For Ages (2018); an extended love letter to NZ, with “soaring vocals, a guitar tone warm as a woollen blanket, mathy lead bits, ever changing dynamics and crash cymbals that wash over you like the ocean...as good an emo release as you will hear anywhere this year” (4ZZZ).
After few years back in Aotearoa and the inevitable covid-delay factor, their third and final album Take Time was released in early 2024; "a cathartic and strangely calming experience. I can’t really think of many albums that tackle the topic of time and aging with such fun, irreverence and heartfelt emotion. Take Time is a collection of powerful songs, performed beautifully and written with absolute honesty. It’s what albums should be – an expression of the artist without filter” (Muzic.net.nz).
Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Carb On Carb
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