Comprised of Brian Harlow (vocals), Charlie Rudoy (drums), Max Kulicke (guitar) and Charles McClung (bass), the Minneapolis, MN-based quartet Carroll can trace their origins to when its founding members and college classmates Harlow and Rudoy decided to move in together in a house on Carroll Avenue in Saint Paul, after Rudoy had heard some melancholy, shoegaze-based pop songs Harlow had written. After Kulicke and McClung were recruited to join the band, the newly-constituted quartet became of one of the Minneapolis area’s hottest, up-and-coming bands, as their debut EP, Needs received regular rotation on Minneapolis’ NPR affiliate The Current and two of the Twin Cities’s biggest arts publications named them one of the area’s best new bands.
Building upon the buzz the quartet was receiving, they went to an abandoned cabin to record a handful of demos, which eventually found their way on the desk of renowned producer, Jon Low, who has worked with The War on Drugs, The National. Local Natives, Mr. Twin Sister and others, who and decided to work with the band on their recently released self-titled debut effort, which was recorded in 18 days. Now if you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past few months, you may remember coming across the album’s first single “Alligator” that track was a moody and atmospheric track comprised of shimmering, reverb-heavy guitars, persistent drums, and Hurlow’s plaintive, melancholy falsetto, which reminded me quite a bit of Los Angeles, CA-based Hands, whose Massive Context was one of my favorite albums of 2012.
The album’s latest single “Green Acres” continues the band’s reputation for moody shoegaze rock-based indie rock/indie pop as the song begins with swirling and gorgeously shimmering guitar chords paired with soaring synth chords and propulsive drumming, joined by the addition of what sounds like acoustic guitar and Harlow’s plaintive falsetto to craft a sound that swoons and feels like a pleasant yet half-remembered dream or the sensation of daydreaming under a tree, while looking at the clouds.
