Black Carnation
It Remains the Same
Reviewed by Dan MacIntosh
Mike Knott and his friends at Blonde Vinyl are sure relaxing product faster than Dominoes can deliver pizza these days, but many are still waiting for the label to produce a group with the same artistic credentials as Knott's own L.S.U. With the arrival of It Remains the Same by Black Carnation, this wait may soon be over.
Carnation is a garden full of influences, without truly sounding like any of them. One can hear the garage funk of early Talking Heads in some places, and the whining vocalisms of Mr. Femme himself, Gordon Gano, in many other spots. And when the band decides to stretch out and rock a bit, those wonderful flat Velvet Underground chords surface.
This Carnation isn't nearly as happy as the odoriferous pink variety is. As the album's third song says, "I pray all day that I will go free/from this black world."
Song after song relays detail after detail about the blackness of this planet. Even the song titles alone paint a picture which excludes most pastels. In addition to the aforementioned "Black World" there is the hopeful "Chasing After the Wind" and the romantic "Love Dies Quickly." Maybe it's all that bad weather in Grand Rapids, MI where the band hails from. I don't know.
On the ultra plus side, the playing is tight, the production is there, and niceties such as a little harmonica here, and a full-bodied trumpet there, help to keep things interesting. Still, some of the band's melodies don't make for immediate infectious grooves for this listener. There's something to be said for great pop hooks. Some folks got 'em, some folks ain't got 'em. Some folks—and I hope this is the case for Black Carnation—just ain't found 'em yet.
Nonetheless, Black Carnation is a band one can safely bet great things for. If someone would only turn them on to some of the better B-52's albums, and maybe a few positive Psalms from the Bible, Black Carnation could be one happening band at the "Love Shack."
3.5/5