What’s the world coming to? These troubled times have even got me listening to gospel music in search of the true path to redemption - although God would have to get a case of extreme memory loss to overlook some of my more entertaining transgressions – even if I know in my heart of hearts that you can’t get anywhere interesting without guitars, a saxophone and a bad attitude. So, without further ado or contrived segue, let’s turn up the volume on “Live” by The Carvels NYC.
As if on a mission to get untidy just like the did back in the days when all music was raw, The Carvels NYC duly use these three key ingredients to kick it up in a straight line and reintroduce your ears to how it was back when the Bowery was the place to be. That said, they still have their finger firmly on the pulse of today and “Stay The Fuck Home” neatly seasons the paranoia of today with the anarchy of yesterday but there is never any doubt that the spirit of punk (American style) is, unlike a certain end of civilisation as we know it virus, here from now until the end of Greenwich Mean Time.
Out front, Lynne Von Pang has no problem hammering the point home with a combination of jackhammer aggression and fifties nostalgia and this is, of course, how it should be to bring joy to the ears of those of us who regard beer as the breakfast drink of choice (even if breakfast tends to happen sometime in the middle of the afternoon).
So, The Carvels NYC play it straight, loud and live on this album and that approach works out pretty well for both them and us. Will this album make the world a better place? Drink some beer, play it loud and it just might.
Best song? The bleakly downbeat “Candy Says”.
The verdict? Crank this album up and the world seems round again.