Carry Yourself

Don't Hold Me To It EP

Written by: DR on 17/06/2012 17:01:21

"Carry Yourself is a pop-punk band from Ottawa, Ontario, who grew up on the same bands Title Fight, Daylight, Such Gold and Polar Bear Club did."

In a way, that's pretty much all you need to know about Canadian up-starts Carry Yourself. Okay, I added the bit after "Ontario...", but if you do like the more aggressive side of the pop-punk spectrum, then Carry Yourself will be right up your street. Fans of Title Fight and Daylight (et al) will discover plenty in this six-song burst of infectious pop-punk to revel in. Nothing here is done exceptionally well, but they're certainly not doing anything downright badly. There's a solid combination of punk rhythms and melodic guitar-lines, the vocals focus entirely on delivering personal lyrics with passion, and the overall enthusiasm is undeniable and, at times, infectious.

I've found nothing to the contrary, so I'm going to assume "Don't Hold Me To It" is Carry Yourself's debut, as it would seem evident in a few things. Firstly, the 'rawness' of this EP is the first thing that hits you - and I'm not just referring to the production; as the lyrics, too, come across as though they're written by someone still trying to find their feet as a song-writer. For every decent and introspective lyric such as "I hate the way the words 'I'm tired' roll off the tip of my tongue.", you also get one or two as poorly formed as "I'd get seasick if there was too much motion, no premises support my conclusion, but I buy it anyways." Secondly, the EP drops off slightly after the first three songs, "The Intention Is There", "Face To Face" and "Silence Is Golden", because the second half simply isn't as memorable. This could be due to the songs not having a great deal of variation between them, or a lack of consistency, or possibly a little of both.

In conclusion, though, consider that "Don't Hold Me To It" is only fifteen minutes long and is available for whatever price you're willing to pay for it, it's hard to be too critical of Carry Yourself. If you like the thriving punk scene at the moment, you're going to find something about this quintet to like. While they are not reinventing anything and they are not yet among the pop punk elect, the intention is there.

Download: 'Name your price' download!
For The Fans of: Caleb Lionheart, Daylight, Title Fight, Polar Bear Club
Listen: Bandcamp

Release Date 28.10.2011
Self-Released

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.