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Now this is a “night cruise” album. Relaxed rhythms, expansive guitar
melodies, contemplative lyrics, and an entrancing lead voice combine for a
smooth (albeit a bit uneven) debut from Minneapolis quartet Carroll.
The opening number, “Alligator,” grabs you immediately with its jazzy guitar chords
and mild tempo shifts, but lead singer Brian Hurlow finishes the deal with his
oddly tantalizing voice and intriguing lyrics.
Follow ups “Bad Water.” “Green Acres,” and “Blaisdell” have small highlights
here and there, but they no doubt serve as the album’s lull, due to their similar
sounds and muddled lyrics. But this actually works to the album’s advantage, since it gets all of the so-called “bad” out of the way early.
Picking up afterward, the album seemingly finds its groove and doesn’t let up for
the rest of the way, offering small doses of instrumental diversity to help
keeps things fresh—whether that be the maracas in “Are We Different,” catchy
bass lines in “Boxing Day,” spacey sound effects in “Daylight,” or choppy
background noises in “Hang On Desert Island,” “Jealous Eyes” steals the show
as a simple, slow burn with the kind of invincibility to repeated listenings that I haven’t
heard since Hoobastank’s “The Reason” (yes, I’m old). Then it transitions
into a nice, easy wrap up with “Know Your Apples.”
Along with Hurlow’s voice (which is the distinctive feature that can really
help put this band over the top) and clear, interesting lyrics that you can analyze
for days, Carroll puts together an album that should be bought
and enjoyed—and a sound that should be around for a while.
