Single Review: Carrie Nations-Self Titled

First the bad news; Carrie Nations formed in the early 00’s, recorded an apparently legendary album for Plan-It-X Records, and then broke up in 2004. This 7 inch collects all their single output, a split with This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, and another split that never came out. And I’ll be dammed if it’s not some of the best pop-punk out there.

What’s great about Carrie Nations is how they’re willing to stretch the boundaries of the genre and come out as original. The lyrics are based on self-deprecation, hating the world, and girls as usual for pop-punk. However, there’s a Pavement influence on them, warping them into cryptic puzzles for you to solve over the days. There is also a late 80’s collage rock/ early 90’s alt rock influence on the guitar work, making the riffs more angular and buzzy than normal. Plus the band isn’t afraid to stretch out the songs, exploring the great sounding outros into hyper, mini-solos. This very prominent on the A side with tracks like “Mangum” which reaches Ergs level of perfection.

This is a great tribute to a fallen band and more of these should be put out, along with the sick cover art. This is absolutely essential pop-punk in my mind. Only 500 copies, so go get it now.

(mp3) Carrie Nations-TriCounty Vampire

Links:

Carrie Nations Myspace (Deficient)
Buy it Now, At Stankhouse Records