Carousel Kings is one of those high energy clean sounding Modern Pop-Punk bands who write incredibly catchy yet strangely all-too-familiar tunes, full of quiet moments followed by driving guitars and soring choruses. It’s not a type of music I have a particular issue with but, like a lot of highly stylised genres, it is rather ‘heard it all before’.
What sets Carousel Kings and songs like opener ‘Grey Goose’ apart is not only the sustained quality of their material but also their sheer relentless enthusiasm. They also mix it up rather better than you might expect with breezy pop like ‘Glory Daze’ slipping between meatier and lighter fare.
In truth there’s not a lot to dislike here, but equally there’s nothing to really blow you away. Songs like ‘Here, Now, Forever’ take it down a little and have some really nice dynamics but stray back to the ‘usual suspects to cling to’ when the refrain comes, it’s the catch of the genre to always emulate and never truly create (just re-create), but these guys get close, nudging that boat out a little further than most.
There is a twist though – after those three opening tracks more of the Metal influences start to surface, still admittedly awash with pop, but undoubtedly there. ‘Bad Habit’ has a chugging under-riff and nice heavy drums. Now please don’t take my seeming lack of enthusiasm for dislike, I love albums like this when the mood takes me and this could easily be the best Pop Punk album you’ll hear this year.
