Formed in 1992 by guitarist Richard Barnes, drummer Christopher O’Donovan, and bassist-vocalist Brenda Sauter, Wild Carnation released their debut CD, Tricycle, in 1994. Now, that set is seeing reissue by the Delmore Recording Society for Record Store Day as a RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release in an edition of 500 copies on carnation white vinyl. Sweetening the deal is an accompanying download code that includes over a half dozen demos and a 1/27/97 live set from Hamburg, Germany. It’s an altogether fantastic listen and exactly what a RSD reissue should be.
Of the three members of Wild Carnation, it’s Brenda Sauter whose musical background is the deepest, as she’s best-known as a member of The Feelies but has also contributed to Speed the Plough alongside her Wild Carnation cohorts Christopher O’Donovan and Richard Barnes (who is Sauter’s husband). Additionally, Sauter was one of the numerous Feelies who played in The Trypes and she’s also featured Yung Wu’s Shore Leave.
Suffice it to say that if you know Sauter’s other bands but haven’t heard Wild Carnation, you can still gather some solid insight into how Tricycle sounds. But if the record is no great stylistic departure, the contents do avoid the predictable through fully realized songwriting and inspired group play. Of course, the root of all this is a heavy debt to the Velvet Underground, though it should be mentioned that Wild Carnation sound less like The Feelies (except when they’re covering Patti Smith’s “Dancing Barefoot” live) and are instead nearer to early ’90s Yo La Tengo, and in particular, the songs that Georgia Hubley sings.
In a nutshell, Wild Carnation are very much a Hoboken sorta thing, and it’s striking just how timeless Tricycle sounds, as it’d be easy to pass off these songs as dating from the mid-’80s or the late ’00s or from just a couple weeks ago. A big part of the reason comes down to the classique nature of Wild Carnation’s influences and the moderne way they tackle them (there’s nothing retro going on), but the icing on the cake is the energy in their method, a factor which comes through strongest in the bonus live recording but is also applicable to the studio material.
The bonus demos here are a worthy addition, but in this instance the released album captures its makers at their best. Opener “The Rising Tide” is thick with controlled distortion while “Acid Rain and “The Big One”” is a jangle fest; “Susquehanna 142” and “Wings” mingle the distortion and the jangle to fine effect. “The Music Box” and “Trailer Song” are pretty strummers, while “No Doors in Kansas” is a raucous rocker and “The State You’re In” soars through Sauter’s vocals.
Sequenced back-to-back, “Dodger Blue” and “The Lights Are On (But No One’s Home)” also make up Wild Carnation’s debut 1993 single, with the latter cut’s guitar hitting a sweet spot between ’90s J. Mascis and shoegaze. From there, “Scarf Dance” possesses an undercurrent of psych-pop (and concludes with a Wedding Present-esque jangle raveup) as the folk-poppy “Shaker Tune” closes the LP with aplomb.
Unifying this 12-song album, its demos and the live recording is Wild Carnation’s obvious passion for musicmaking, with this element deepening Tricycle’s sheer timelessness and establishing the record as a minor classic.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
