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September 28, 2005
endearing organs
The Caribbean's new album, "Plastic Explosives" is a lot like OK Computer, on a certain level (I know this might sound far-fetched, but bear with me here). Michael Kentoff (singer, lyricist) seems to have approached this 3rd LP from almost the same angle that Radiohead's Thom Yorke did- as an attempt to offer brief portraits, accurately if somewhat elliptically drawn, of characters on the verge: of long journeys, of drastic changes, of escape from life-negating alienation and loneliness. Although the execution isn't the same (where RH prefer to work in a sort of electric and static medium, the Caribbean imbue their songs with a late-night bleary-eyed acoustic guitar hush), many of the themes are similar- but because of that difference, the Caribbean's songs aren't quite as claustrophobic and full of veiled threats as the songs on OK Computer. Think of "Plastic Explosives" as the Mr. Nervous to OK Computer's Mr. Worry, with just a shade of meaning between them.
'I Thee Wed' is a perfect example of what to expect from this album- generous portions of acoustic guitar, Michael Kentoff's slightly nasally sing-speaking, and small tangents of intra-song distractions. Plus, philsophically speaking, this track utilizes what is perhaps the industry standard example of performative language when Michael sings, "I thee wed". Each time you listen to this track, M. Kentoff is essentially marrying you (or trying to). Language in action! Woo.
"Plastic Explosives" was just released by Home Tapes, and is available directly from the nice people at the label for a mere $11 (a steal).
Posted by Kevin at September 28, 2005 12:13 AM