It should come as no surprise that Hardly Art-- Sub Pop's little sister label-- is releasing this career-spanning compilation for the now-defunct, spell-check-maddening Carissa's Wierd. After all, Sub Pop has released records by three bands that grew out of it: Sera Cahoone, Grand Archives, and Band of Horses. Like Lifter Puller (the pre-Hold Steady band of Craig Finn and Co., which recently re-released its back catalog), Carissa's Wierd was a mostly local cult phenomenon in Seattle until two of its former members, Ben Bridwell and Mat Brooke, formed Band of Horses and released Everything All the Time. Every time Band of Horses was initially discussed, Carissa's Wierd's name appeared as well. Repeat something enough and it starts to resonate, and so casual fans of Band of Horses (and eventually Grand Archives, the band Brooke left BOH to start) started to hear about this defunct band, their final legendary show at Seattle's Crocodile, and that it was hard to get your hands on their three studio albums.
Now that their hushed songs are gathered together for the first time, beware of listening to They'll Only Miss You When You Leave-- a title that proves that CW has a sense of humor about its place in indie rock history-- as a Band of Horses history lesson. First of all, BOH is Ben Bridwell's creation. He is that band's mastermind. But he is a relative footnote in Carissa's Weird, which was initially founded by a teenaged Mat Brooke and Jenn Ghetto in Tucson. It was only after the duo relocated to Seattle that they recruited subsequent members Bridwell and Cahoone (both of whom, at different points, played drums). And secondly, Band of Horses were never this off the beaten path-- Carissa's Wierd is so much stranger than any of the bands that have sprung from its ashes.
The 16 tracks on this comp are culled from 1999's Ugly But Honest, 2001's You Should Be at Home Here, 2002's Songs About Leaving (which was produced by Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla), and the compilations I Before E and Scrap Book. Though a chronological track listing would have been preferable, this collection of Morrissey-ian titled songs ("All Apologies and Smiles, Yours Truely, Ugly Valentine", "Blessed Arms That Hold You Tight, Freezing Cold and Alone") proves that you don't need to play loud or fast to be powerful and affecting. These songs are marked by darkly colored violins, lo-fi production that elevates every guitar string squeak to an integral part of a song's arrangement, and the delicate, tender interplay between Brooke and Ghetto's voices. (The tracks that he sings without her just aren't as emotionally satisfying.) But unlike many of the chamber pop bands that have emerged in their wake, Carissa's Wierd aren't mannered or precious. They are delightfully messy.
Some of the band's aesthetic choices sound, admittedly, a little dated-- Brooke's vocals, for example, can teeter on choked teenage-Conor-Oberst territory at times. But rarely have bands this hushed and narcotized been able to express negative emotions beyond sadness or self-loathing. Carissa's Wierd also manage to do anger. Curious Band of Horses fans should be curious to hear where Bridwell learned the power of the ballad, but they may also be put off by the low-lit, Low-like tones of this collection. But those that have been bored by BOH's recent output (or even those who ignored it altogether) can rest assured that Carissa's Wierd are more than just the sum of its parts.
