Caroline Alexander
Vanity EP
If you watch a lot of live music, there’s a chance you’ll find yourself with a song stuck in your head that’s never been released. When you can’t slam the track on, your brain can’t let it go. Candystream did this to me in Southampton some time in the 90s with their opening song and its wickedly infections drum beat, and Caroline Alexander did it a decade later in London with the songs they introduced post ‘If you’.
Delightfully, the wait is over as a lost demo containing four of these songs, recorded at 811, ICC, and Ankh studios with Roger Tebbutt, Martin ‘Ace’ Kent, and David Lynch.
There’s punk flowing powerfully through each song. ‘Vanity’ has spike moody vibes with the chorus of ‘IT’S FAKE’ providing a staccato contrast to the melodic longer notes of the verse. The whole bands locks into the rhythm, and the vocal cuts through with attitude.
‘Story’ has a two-tone sound that draws on punk, new wave, and ska to provide beat-driven verses and a pre-chorus and chorus combination that races along.
Bringing some Banshees-esque magic, ‘Nausatic’ has a dreamlike guitar intro, before the clouds thicken and the guitars take on a darker smolder. The switches between these two states and the section that feel like things are building up to a storm, keep you guessing where the song will go.
The EP ends with ‘Suicide Note’. This song has the most traditional arrangement, with a chorus that could stick in your head for 20 years, 7 months, and 8 days – not that I was counting. The solo blazes white hot in this track, dropping in right after the middle eight and propelling the song into a final repetition of the anthem.
The long-term combination of Caroline Alexander’s incredible voice and Al Gregg’s guitar chops, along with the crashing together of their respective influences, made this band really exciting. This demo is great and the live shows were even better!
You can listen to all four tracks on Soundcloud.
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