Album Review: The Carolyn – This Will Begin To Make Things Right

Come on lads, put away those latter-era Lemonheads albums. You can do better. There’s a word I was groping for, listening to this the first time through. Then it came to me: ‘earnest’. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this as a quality and the tunes on this album are alternately breezy and crunchy, like a long ‘time-passing’ montage in top-end romantic comedy. And there’s the problem. It’s all lovely, light and shade and not too challenging, but nothing new. Pop punk as a genre is, by definition, a bit of a cul-de-sac because as soon as you go off-message and stray away from that melodic middle ground, you’re automatically capping your audience. Atlanta’s The Carolyn have pitched their stall right in the middle of that marketplace and seem determined to stay there.

That’s the criticism out of the way. This is by no means a poor album. Quite the opposite. The Carolyn have absolutely nailed that mid-tempo wistful guitar self-aware, self-analysing rock sound and they do it very well. If you had never heard this kind of exciting, self-deprecating guitar music before, you would fall in love with it and play it endlessly. Probably in your car overlooking a beach at sunset. The band’s songcraft cannot be questioned. Melodies are strong and timeless. In fact, that’s a strength. This album could have been released any time between now and 1994, and it touches on too many reference points to list. But from that comes a comfortable familiarity. That’s a plus and a minus. It’s a crowded scene and I have to wonder if there’s enough individuality here to rise above it. Enough character and charm to rate three stars. A kind of Owen Wilson of a record.

This Will Begin To Make Things Right by Atlanta three-piece The Carolyn is out on 6^th December on 59 X RECORDS.