Carney is quite easily the next big thing to come out of LA’s alt rock scene. Fronted by angelic Reeve Carney and his guitar ripping brother, Zane, Carney’s music harks back to the rock ’n’ roll of days gone by. Heavily influenced by Queen, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, the band not only sounds good on the record, but puts on an electric musical performance live.
I first found out about Carney through another of my favorite bands, Australian pop-rock duo The Veronicas. Even though I’ve seen The Veronicas live several times over the year, I had never seen Carney as their opening act. So it was out of pure curiosity that I dragged a friend to the historic El Rey Theatre last year to check out Carney’s farewell to Los Angeles concert. Reeve has been cast as Peter Parker in Julie Taymor’s Broadway production of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark and the band is tagging along to play in the orchestra.
I’m glad I decided to take a chance that evening because Carney’s sound has clearly been perfected over many years of playing at smaller local venues. I’m over going to see bands that still quite haven’t figured out what direction they’re going in and more importantly, can’t really carry a tune. Listening to Reeve hit those high wailing notes was worth the price of admission alone. Clear standouts off of the 8 track album are “There She Goes,” “Nothing Without You,” and “Testify.” The disc’s first single “Love Me Chase Me” features a Tim Burton-esque circus-themed music video guest starring the ever lovely Evan Rachel Wood.
At one point, the band slowed it down as Reeve croons “Think of You” to every female in the audience. Sigh.
The only skippable track on the album, in my opinion, is “Amelie” which I had heard off of an earlier live album they did a few years ago. As a song it’s kind of whimsical like the movie, but completely unnecessary. It definitely doesn’t fit in with the tone of the rest of the songs.
At the end of the night, we were able to meet the band after purchasing the album (for only $10!). All four guys are incredibly gracious and spent a good 5 minutes chatting with everyone in line.
Overall, it was a fantastic performance of a great album. If you get the chance, I highly encourage you to check out Carney the next time they are in town.