"Life sucker / Mouth liquor / Jesus is laid on the ground / The city’s full of common creatures / I don’t recognise..."
The deadly alt rock noir and indie cool transgressions of "J.U.M", by Brighton UK's alt rock spiraling CARNE, feels, at once, 90's nostalgic as it feels artfully fresh and needed. That potent error where elements of gothic rock, post punk, baroque pop even and heavy metal coalesced into something else akin to a sonic reflection of glam and queer culture, industrial punk and comic book vampires was a special time. The 90's had many sides, grunge specifically on one end and the slick darkness of similar sounds but more stargazing than slacker and CARNE feels closer to the latter, thinking of Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, Sonic Youth, P.J. Harvey, Garbage etc.
Listening to "J.U.M" (junked up murder) and I am struck how the cool heaviness, the propulsive drumming, pummeling bass pushes and big guitars with bending notes is offset with such an artfully built narrative. I am loving the filmic sense, Carmen Mellino's darkly beautiful vocal countenance and melodies delivered in such an evocative way and the loud to quiet and back aesthetic. Within the sonic, musical subversions there is shiny bits, true pop prowess in the execution of things and I mean pop in terms of not being afraid to be pointedly theatrical, not the dreadful cookie cutter pop populating Spotify. Lovely stuff. I just wish "J.U.M" was longer.
LYRICS
Life sucker
Mouth liquor
Jesus is laid on the ground
The city’s full of common creatures
I don’t recognise
But it’s you
Beyond any doubt I knew
Junked up murder
And it’s true
You’d rather sell yourself for
A junked up murder
Bloody horror
My mouth liquor
You open dry my heart
The city’s full of unknown loners
Ready to cut you half
But it’s you
Beyond any doubt I knew
Junked up murder
And it’s true
You’d rather sell yourself for
A junked up murder
Oh
I’m layered in thick plastic
Oh
I’m trashed your silhouette is gone
Oh
Cos I’m layered in thick plastic
Now that your silhouette is gone
I’m trashed your silhouette is gone
It’s you
Beyond any doubt I knew
Junked up Murder
And it’s you
Beyond any doubt I knew
Junked up murder
And it’s true
You’d rather sell yourself for
A junked up murder
But it’s you
Beyond any doubt I knew
Junked up murder
And it’s true
You’d rather sell yourself for
A junked up murder
LINER NOTES:
[Remember the time where you were sprawled on the couch, the flicker of MTV lighting up the room? The haunting beauty of The Smashing Pumpkins’ Adore is playing in the background followed by PJ Harvey’s Is This Desire? with its raw, unfiltered energy. Grunge is evolving and alternative rock is becoming more experimental, more introspective, yet still deeply intense. The 90’s may have come to an end but the spirit is still burning in 2025. A new quartet from Brighton emerges, a band forged from the melancholy, chaos and bold creativity of that era. 30 years later, that fearless, raw sound, is back redefined and revived through CARNE.]
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6AE4eHR4lRJEm_9kXl-80A
https://www.instagram.com/carnetheband_/
https://www.tiktok.com/@carnetheband
https://www.facebook.com/carnetheband
Remember the time where you were sprawled on the couch, the flicker of MTV lighting up the room? The haunting beauty of The Smashing Pumpkins’ Adore is playing in the background followed by PJ Harvey’s Is This Desire? with its raw, unfiltered energy. Grunge is evolving and alternative rock is becoming more experimental, more introspective, yet still deeply intense. The 90’s may have come to an end but the spirit is still burning in 2025. A new quartet from Brighton emerges, a band forged from the melancholy, chaos and bold creativity of that era. 30 years later, that fearless, raw sound, is back redefined and revived through CARNE.
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