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EP REVIEW: Drunk Hymns – Carsick

Pubs are a quintessential part of English life, whether that’s meeting up with long-lost friends or spending your childhood eating crisps whilst out at a family dinner. For the members of CARSICK, a pub was the start of their band. The quartet bonded over pints in a small English pub in late 2021; they played their debut show at The Joiners in Southampton in November that year, and have since supported the likes of KNUCKLE PUCKBEACH RIOT and SALEM amongst many others. After being signed to Alcopop! Records in April 2022, the band released a few stand-alone singles, but now their debut EP Drunk Hymns offers their formal introduction to the world.

Across four songs, CARSICK unleash a lot of energy. Anaconda Frank starts off with a phone call before it smoothly transitions into a punk instrumental with hip-hop-esque vocals. The band don’t conform to genres as they flip between indie rock, punk and hip-hop elements, and it’s a good opener. Nothing To Do follows and adds electronic elements to the mix too, but the lyrics are the stand-out. Touching upon life as a young adult in England, the vocal delivery is reminiscent of Parklife by BLUR, with spoken-word verses and a sung chorus.

Whilst it isn’t the most unique way to sing a song about life in England, it is a fun track and CARSICK manage to make it their own with the opening and closing of the song being comprised of soundbites. The one issue with this is that the production means that they are very quiet compared to the instruments that play over them. This might just be a stylistic choice from the band, but it does lead to the question of why they were used in the first place, especially as the rest of the songs do not use them.

Runner is the shortest song on the EP, at just under two minutes long. Thanks to the simple electronic backing track, the song doesn’t ruin the rest of pacing, as it keeps moving at a medium pace. However, the same cannot be said for closer Heartbreak At The Anchor & Hope. Whilst it is a pleasant slow song, it sounds a little out of place on this EP because there is no build-up to it. It is a shame as the band clearly have talent, but this song does end the EP a little anti-climactically. It slows the record down, and whilst it could be argued that the band have subtly been building up to it, with the songs getting slower over the course of the EP, it still feels like quite a jarring shift in pace.

That being said, this is CARSICK‘s first EP. It’s still early days and they have a lot of time to improve, and anyway, Drunk Hymns is not a bad EP; it is – unfortunately – just a standard debut EP, with some things to improve upon. On the other hand, the band have a lot of potential, and they have already shown that they have a unique approach to music and a definitive sound which hopefully they can take further in the future.

Rating: 6/10

Drunk Hymns - Carsick

Drunk Hymns is set for release on June 30th via Alcopop! Records.

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