Honest lyrics, raw vocals, and a selection of musical styles that mesh into one cohesive album.
FFO: Taking Back Sunday, Movements, Man Overboard
There’s something powerful about a band’s first release that subsequent releases never quite match. There’s no pressure for follow-up success that might influence the direction of the album. Every aspect of the music- the lyrics, vocals, instrumentation, production- is so unrefined that listeners are exposed to the artists’ truest feelings. This holds true with the debut EP from Idaho rockers, Carry on, Kid, titled “Our World is Ugly and Filled with Beautiful People”.
Carry on, Kid describe themselves as “Idaho Post Emo core pop punk (Rhino Rock)” and with good reason, considering the arc of the EP follows that course of genres quite precisely. Over the span of just five songs, Carry on, Kid traverse a bridge of musical styles, all the while delivering a cohesive sound that links each song in a way that clearly identifies them as deriving from the same album. Similar to how Optimus Prime is easily recognized in both truck and robot forms, there’s no arguing that each track on this EP- though different- is very much “Carry on, Kid”.
The EP kicks off with the track “Tar-zan”, which vocalist Christian Anderson describes as, “not a love song, but more of a song about love.” The combination of tremolo guitar, palm muted riffs, crashing drums, and vocals that push the envelope with juuust enough angst create a track that might have you headbanging away to those feelings of hopeless love from your teenage years you thought you repressed. Carry on, Kid paces the verses in a way that makes the transition to the half-time, anthemic drums in the chorus all the more impactful. The song ends with Anderson yelling the words to the chorus one final time before a chord strikes, concluding the thought, but after hearing track two, I feel the guys could have gone with a more fluid transition joining the two tracks in a concept-album sort of way.
Track two is cleverly named “Cameron’s song, written by Christian, named by David, Michael was present, Tommy is here”, and brings me back to the days when Fall Out Boy and Panic! at the Disco wouldn’t put a song on an album unless its title included over 10 words. Like I mentioned, this track really feels like a continuation of “Tar-zan”, but I’m a fan of that, and it brings togetherness to the EP. The song veers away from the “post-genre” attributes, getting more in-your-face with quick drums, back-up vocals, and guitars that deliver a wall of sound that feels right for this song.
Things slow down for a bit with the song “Coarse”, which is the only acoustic track on the album. While it’s risky to feature an acoustic song as one of only five tracks on an EP, and even further, breaking things up by placing it in the middle of the album, I can’t help but say Carry on, Kid made a good call here. “Coarse” is a turnaround point for the progression of the album, with things getting a little more pop-punk on the latter half of this EP.
Electric guitars and drums jump back in for the remainder of the album, starting with “I WROTE THIS SONG FOR me”. Track four kicks things up a notch, weighing in as the heaviest piece on the album. Verses do well at delivering the message intended for listeners, and choruses hit hard even without lyrics, which makes you appreciate the words in the verses just a little more.
Capping things off is “Leap Into Action” which is personally my favorite track on the album. Carry on, Kid abandon nearly all post/emo ties with this one, resulting in a song that sounds reminiscent of “Real Talk”-era Man Overboard. Uplifting guitar riffs are paired with finally-hopeful lyrics, and laced with the “woo!” that often finds its way into pop-punk music. This track definitely stands out on the EP, but it still feels like it makes sense.
“Our World is Ugly and Filled with Beautiful People” is a solid debut effort from Carry on, Kid, laying a foundation on which the band can build a name for themselves in this scene. While the EP has its weaker points, like production value and tightness of instrumentation, these are things that arguably don’t take away from the songs themselves, and can be addressed in a sophomore release. Take 15 minutes, listen to this EP, and like me, I’m sure you’ll be anticipating more from Carry on, Kid.
-Dave Lisowski (@dave_lisowski/@foxalprods)
Support Carry on, Kid:
Pillar Collective 