Baby Carrot

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Amazon

Lick the feeble wounds beset by the kings of industry.

Fans are a funny lot. Or maybe it’s the younger fans that are a funny lot. I frequent a few major label bands’ message boards online and time after time I see these kids yelling “sell out” or complaining that such and such a group was so much better two album ago from five years before when they were only 10 years old. I never could relate to that stuff. To me, you make your music and you sell your albums. I suppose having grown up as a kid at a time when indie label album were not as easily accessible didn’t give me any such “sell out” perspective. No. That’s not it at all. I guess I’ve always been one of those fans that always gave a favorite band another chance the next time around if their current album sucked. “Sell out” seems like an ironic term anyway given the fact that successful musicians are basically making money at their craft no matter what kind of music they create.

But you know, with the independent labels come that stigma of the dreaded “sell out” cry from the fans. Do bands like San Francisco’s Baby Carrot have to go through this kind of woe? I mean, original drummer Dennis Galway was replaced last year by Oren Williams. Did the fans scream such nonsense about the group being better when Galway was on board? I wonder. But ultimately it doesn’t matter at all as Baby Carrot’s Play Every Day is a very nice piece of work with all sorts of nooks and crannies that will keep you entertained for a long time.

Granted, when I first played the disc I was not overwhelmed. I can’t say that I was really ever a fan of the so-called “math rock” genre, and the first song “Chinese Food & Donut” sits squarely in the middle of any favorite calculator. (Or is that “unsquarely”? You do the math. Ha.) But then I listened some more, and there was something about Dave Powers’ oddball guitar riff and his singing that just seemed to fit. I hate to say it, but oft-times you still need a good leadoff track to make your listeners want to hear the rest of your album. So if you’re reading this and feel the same way, give “Chinese Food & Donut” at least two or three shots. I promise it’ll have you by that point.

From there, Play Every Day experiments with quite a few styles and pulls them off quite well. Power reminds me of Layne Stanley on “Bet a Nickel” and for once I don’t mean that in a negative way. As his guitar, Andy Chapman’s bass and Williams’ drumming all lock down into a thick rock workout after every tightly wound verse, there’s a nice sense of release. But just as soon as the song frees itself, it winds back up again and the whole process begins anew. It’s an interesting formula that adds a nice sense of musical drama to the Baby Carrot sound.

And speaking of “Kids These Days”, the song with said name is a stunning seven-plus minutes of staid rhythm and interlocking riffs. “Don’t wake up and start shit / Never fall over flat on your face / Some guy down the block is upset / ‘Cause the bus wakes his ass up” intones Power sleepily as he then sings some lines through some distorted filter and the guitar lines ring out again. After that is “Glasses” in which parts of the vocals and guitar riffs are one and the same, making for a kind of claustrophobic sound. A bit unsettling at first, but once again the band plays with that wind up/release method that works so well. Plus it’s hard to argue with music like this that keeps throwing curve balls with such great band interaction.

But the band can play the straight up power pop game just as well. “Forgot to Read” is one hell of a tune, and if you need immediate convincing of this band when you pick this disc up, go straight to this tune and press play. The riffs, the melodies, the harmonies all form this sub-three-minute chunk of super pop that you won’t forget. Clearly the sweetest spot on the album. But don’t be disappointed when the languid “Halfway” arrives soon after. The nicest thing about Baby Carrot is that they can play all these interesting styles within the confines of the trio form. Talent abounds.

You tell me another band who can pull of such delights as “Deciding Time”, an eerie Camper Van Beethoven sound-alike circa Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart or Key Lime Pie. Or how about those nice guitars and vocals in “Sandblock” that fly all over the place but never lose their balance within the two minutes and 45 seconds that it takes to complete the song? Let’s face it: Play Every Day is one hell of a great sleeper.

So don’t let it pass you up. Everything from the solid production on down to the analog/digital mix is sweet. For those that like their familiar pop shaken up every now and then, Baby Carrot is just the band to fit your need. From abstract riffs and rhythms that somehow certainly make sense within the power pop genre to the more obvious and excellent equations, Play Every Day is a unique masterpiece that stands solidly by itself in a world often filled with indie-rock sameness. By the second album, the fans might clamor “sell out” but this listener will be eagerly anticipating any new avenues that Baby Carrot might like to explore.