Carving a Niche: Carver Rocks the Bitter End

With such divergent backgrounds among its numbers, Carver's sound feels a little like sitting at the intersection of three different musical roads. At its January 31st show at NYC's The Bitter End, the band drove straight to the point: with a level of tightness that surpasses expectations for such a relatively new project, there's definitely a niche for Carver among NY's indie rock scene.

Former solo songstress Jackie Pop's vocals are strong, alternately bright and brooding, with an ability to wail that's tough to top. Guitarist Wayne Silver nailed a few serious solos, in particular during Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," which the band covered with precision though its interpretation of the song as a whole could have been harder. Bassist Brian Starke even landed a solo in "Deaf in One Ear," a moody song with the potential to be a single. Keyboardist Adam Zirkin adds an ethereal element to the band's capable song crafting abilities, and drummer Ilan Harel sets the energy level high enough to keep the crowd involved throughout the show.

Going by the band's previous experiences -- three of its members came from Sputniks Down, which started out as a jam band several years ago -- I initially feared the jam band roots would dominate the show. That wasn't the case at all. The band's other parent, alt/rock band Seer, balances the sound perfectly. Carver has a uniquely appealing style to its noise, kind of like a modern-day, female fronted Led Zeppelin. Three distinct roads brought the band to where it's at today, but if Carver keeps up the hard work and intensity, there's only one road the band can go down, and it leads directly to musical satisfaction.

-Janine Sebastian

Smile Pretty Misery: Feast your ears on this one

Anger, elation, confusion, contentment, despair - the debut effort by Long Island, New York-based indie pop/rock band Smile Pretty Misery will take you through an entire menu of emotion before leaving a satisfied taste in your mouth. I was hungry for more of these guys after listening to the six tracks comprising Measured in Miles (August 2008 / self-released), a short but well-developed collection full of variety.

From the jovial tunes "(You Know) You Gotta Love Her" and "June to September" to the moodier "Will But No Way" and the quiet, reflective "Happy New Year," each track will evoke a separate feeling. (Although the EP only introduces us to six songs, that awesome microchasm known as YouTube can feed us four more tracks for dessert, replete with footage from recent gigs. Just log on to youtube.com and search for Smile Pretty Misery. Consider them bonus tracks, of which my definite favorite is the powerfully atmospheric "Satellite.")

Careful and detailed composition is the first striking feature of the collection, especially on "Blood Red Ink," which adds strings as a backdrop to the dark picture the song paints. Irony and metaphor reminiscient of Jason Mraz and Fiona Apple are common lyrical techniques, as demonstrated on the track "Happy New Year" with lines like "Seems all broken-hearted dreamers have nothing more to teach us / When they become presented with problems they can't solve." In "Snake Oil Man," with lyrics like "He speaks in Ragtime riddles / He's peddling peace of mind / He's a regular broken-record salesman," the point is so cleverly stated that it could be about almost anyone, from a drifter ex-lover to President George W. Bush.

Smile Pretty Misery demonstrates a capacity for songwriting much more mature than its two-year history as a band would otherwise indicate. Perhaps it's due to lead singer Jaymes Welsh's classical opera background and the resourceful style of drummer Chris Bonacorsa, or perhaps it's due to the energy of bassist Mike Bayer or guitarist Al Domingo's prior experiences playing with a host of well-known Long Island acts. Whatever the case may be, Smile Pretty Misery has clearly made a smart move with Measured in Miles, satisfying through and through.

More Smile Pretty Misery:
www.myspace.com/smileprettymisery
http://www.smileprettymisery.com/

~Janine Sebastian