Carry-On Band - Last Time I Saw You
Rock, Progressive Rock, 80s Re-rock
California, United States
Overall Impression: With its excellent performances and spirited writing, "Last Time I Saw You" is a solid mid-paced alternative rocker that's full of both heart and plenty of melodic delight, making for an inspiring listening experience that manages to effortlessly engage its listeners with its great character and style. The Carry-On Band have stricken a great balance in "Last Time I Saw You", it flows brilliantly between its more tranquil moments of softly strummed acoustic guitar, understated vocal elements, and graceful lead guitar, to its more energizing and flair-filled sections that make great use of wah-infused lead, grittier overdriven rhythm guitars, and an even more commanding vocal presence. "Last Time I Saw You" proved to be a thoroughly enjoyable listen and I'm sure this will go down an absolute treat when played in front of a crowd.
Strongest Point(s): There is a clear and profound emphasis on melody in "Last Time I Saw You" and not only are the track's main hooks both well constructed and performed, but they are tremendously catchy, and if a listener can come away from a song with a song's melodies firmly ingrained in the brain, then the writing is clearly doing something very right indeed. I particularly like how some of the main vocal lines are further strengthened by having the lead guitar perform the same melody in unison, this is a brilliant way to place further emphasis on a particular hook as well as present a melody in both a tonally and timbrally diverse way. The arrangement itself showcases striking variety, the song continually presents its listeners with fresh and exciting ideas throughout, this could be to do with interesting moments of interplay between various instrumental parts or subtle alterations to a certain previously established rhythmic or melodic idea. This feeling of continued development in the arrangement allows for the writing to feel organic and free-flowing, it's rather easy to allow an arrangement to grow stale, however, The Carry-On Band has put great thought into their writing and performances to ensure this is never the case.
Target Audience Appeal: "Last Time I Saw You" is a great example of what the alternative rock genre has to offer and I'm sure fans of the style will find themselves connecting with the song greatly.
Artist target suggestions: Foo Fighters, Temple Of The Dog, Collective Soul, Stone Temple Pilots, 3 Doors Down, Toad The Wet Sprocket, Fuel, Days Of The New, Blind Melon, Counting Crows, The Verve Pipe
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About the Reviewer:
Andre Avanessian is a freelance session musician, composer, and sound engineer based in the U.K. Having studied music production and composition at a degree level, he has taken his passion for all things audio-related to a level that has allowed him to become both a competent musician and performer. Being a self-confessed "Guitar Nerd" Andre has been continually studying the guitar, as well as teaching it, helping students both learn the instrument, develop their songwriting, and how to become proficient in home recording.