25 September 2011

Carissa's Wierd - tucson / meredith & iris (2011, Hardly Art)

7 years after "Songs about leaving", after their split, solo careers and new bands, they are back with their original lineup. A few reunion shows have lead to the recording of two new songs finally released as a 7inch on Hardly Art, a Subpop sublabel.

Are they really back together or is it just a nostalgic pause before new solo works by Jenn Ghetto and Matt Brooke, we can't tell but seeing the intactness of this 7inch, there is still a wide open road in front of them and the place for several more masterpiece and a larger recognition which their past lack of promotion and public presence failed to achieve. And they are now on Subpop.

7 years, that's a lot, and it changes your lecture of a band you've been a deep fan of, and their subsequent adventures have shown me, that I much more belong to the Jenn Ghetto perspective as I've never been able to come to terms with even a single song of their other projects, would it be Band of Horses or Grand Archives.

Also, I deeply enjoy how Carissa's Wierd polarize her expression, how different it can be from her solo works I cherish as more fundamental.


While "Tucson" is an immediate dazzling melancholic jewel, "Meredith & Iris" is longer in the mouth, plays nicely the b-side role and eventually turns into a valuable one a few spins later.

This release if new land reclaimed from the sea and attached to their discography, precious, fertile and meaningful. Carissa's Wierd shines on it as always, as another proof about how slowcore music ages so well.

"Tucson" is the typical Carissa's Wierd swirling melancholic hymn, with bare minimal lyrics, "You've been gone so long. You can never go home again. Somehow it's only hours. (So long. So long. So long.)" we could be used for every love relationship with hiatus, break-up and trials of reconcialiation but can also document the reunion of the band. The violin is in full force, the guitars, and shared vocals with Jenn playing the role of the desperate siren while boats are crashed against reef, the song work.

If I admit I disregarded "Meredith & Iris" at first, I finally belief there is more flesh inside this song for a potential follow-up, the band is looking forward, starting to move and make some steps together, reactivating their songwriting gear. The good thing is that I feel depressed and melancholic after listening to this two songs a handful of time, more appeased too, seeing too "a light on the back roads
haunting our way".

Welcome back. 

http://www.bestcareanywhere.net/CarissasWierd/index.aspx Carissa's Wierd - Meredith & Iris by hardlyartrecords

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