Blazing new, sensual musical trails with local band Carol Blaze

By SARAH BUTCHIN

Carol Blaze

Recommended if you like: David Bowie or Edwyn Collins

Carol Blaze

Recommended if you like: David Bowie or Edwyn Collins

Upon listening to Carol Blaze’s promo mix, you might step back and think to yourself, “What exactly is this?” You feel as though you have been let in on a very dark secret – one that you don’t totally understand. The songs feel as if they are your tortured, innermost fears being acted out by heavy bass and a probing synthesizer. It’s so different that you are drawn into every change in drumbeat. The music is so interesting that it can be incorporated with all kinds of events. Remember when the Druids marched into the library? This could possibly be a soundtrack for their next romp around campus. It’s mysterious, just like those hooded rascals.

Lead singer A.T. Vish’s voice is very different, deep and sensual with shady undertones. The first track, “Curled Beside Love,” has a sample from “2001: A Space Odyssey.” From the sound of the music, the “2001” sample and the undercurrent of doom within the song, you can almost imagine crazy, little aliens dancing around the empty streets of a desolate town and burning down barns. It’s a song that evokes imagery.

Very different from “Curled Beside Love” is “One Summer Day.” The song is very upbeat, with a sound of hope. It’s about grabbing onto anything you can in a relationship and making it work against the odds. There’s a long guitar solo with a bit of bongo drums adding a little discomfort in the breaks. It’s as if you are enjoying that perfect summer day and you begin to notice rain clouds peering over the horizon. In all of Carol Blaze’s songs, there’s always that little edge that makes things feel uncomfortable. Carol Blaze has one of the most interesting sounds I have heard.

It gives you something to sit back and think about. Make your way to the record store and grab a Carol Blaze album; I am sure you will be engaged.

Carol Blaze is an unsigned local band. Sample tracks and more information about the band can be found at www.mp3.com.