The Carps
Waves & Shambles (EP)
4/5
The Carps: Jahmal Tonge and Neil A White and are out of Scarborough, Ontario. The EP Waves and Shambles is a 6 cut attack of electro funky vibes mixed with a thrashy punk/metal sound that is in your face and makes you want to mosh and dance all at once. These up and comers are adopting an emerging sound that is both electro and punk rock and can thus draw from a wide array of fan bases. Club kids can appreciate the tight beats and fat synths while the thrashers can show love to the heavy bass licks and the screaming rock vocals. The sound is reminiscent of another Toronto group, the now defunct Death From Above 1979, with whom they certainly share a high energy vibe. This EP is 6 cuts, but shows a lot of The Carps’ range. The fusion between dance and rock is evident throughout but the tracks reach far out into the realms of metal, drum and bass and even the psychedelic.
The first cut should really be the first single in my opinion for The Carps being that is the most complete tune. Veronica Belmont is a steady rolling rocker with a dark, bubbly electro bassline that blends nicely with the vocals and drums to.
Gretta Edris has a real thrash rhythm to it and again, the electro elements give the track a dirty mix but in a good way. The vocals provide that perfect mix. Much like Lenny Kravitz has the ability to appeal to a rock vibe and a dance/funk vibe, the same can be said for the work of Jahmal Tonge. His influences of Motown, Michael Jackson and Prince work to the funky soulfulness of this track and others while he also is able to carry on amidst the shredding dirty bass lines and pads without seeming out of place.
Heaven’s Gates and Hell’s Flames (redux) featuring The Cool Kids is another pop funk sound. The track’s disco snare makes it a toe-tapper and reminds me of an old Digable Planets song. It again features razor sharp synths that contrast nicely against the funky beat. I am a big fan of this growing form of electro funk/punk but with so many acts like Chromeo, Justice, Mstrkrft (just to name a few) and now The Carps, my fear is that the sound and the idea will become saturated and normal and that will result in it becoming boring and stale. Some music is best associated with poetic thoughtful songwriting while other forms with masterful production and complex instrumentation. My observation is that music like The Carps’ is effective and hot because it’s fresh and fun. Having too much of the product pushed onto the top 40 might suck the fun right out of the genre and off the dance floor.
Now it’s time for the bad news because it can’t all be good. The track Porgie and Bess is a throw away that sounds like something that didn’t make the final cut of an early Limp Bizkit album. It is a miss and every album/EP has at least one.
The EP ends with a psychedelic interlude called Thomas I love You So . Once again, there are some pretty cool sounds here that show the duo’s versatility and appreciation for the ambient.
Overall, The Carps are a solid partnership of talented musicians who each bring their own unique musical influences and expertise to the table and create a blend that works. Waves and Shambles is a quick six tracks but there is definitely a lot of meat on the bones. Having music that has a mass appeal can only be a positive thing for an upstart band whose most important task is initially and ultimately exposure.
+ Gavin Reid
April 12, 2008
