Makeout Party - Carried Names

I’ve been meaning to write this review for a long time.

I first heard Carried Names in May, right after the CD release in New Jersey, and over the past two months I can say with confidence that I’ve listened to this EP at least 200 times. I got a good 30 listens just from driving back to Massachusetts from a show in Delaware. For 8 Hours my band mates and I listened to the album on repeat. No one complained or asked to listen to anything else. Carried Names is honestly that good.

I confess that I was probably emotionally predisposed to this album through my friendship with the band (the song “7 Durant” is about my house). Regardless, I feel it’s necessary to point out that while I think that Makeout Party are all great dudes, my appreciation of Carried Names is based on the fact that it’s a near perfect album possessing the emotional depth of End Serenading Mineral, the musical intricacy of American Football, and the melodic grace of mid-career Getup Kids.
Carried Names begins with the mid-tempo “Mid-Twenties Relapse”. Lyrics wax on about post college ennui and the failings of love while the song builds up instrumentally until collapsing into a twinkling guitar outtro where Carmen croons, “We couldn’t float, we were capsized. Can’t say I wasn’t surprised. Everything wasn’t all right.” The song transitions perfectly into the next track “Restore” which showcases Makeout Party’s tight knit sound along with a renewed sense of urgency; the drums and guitars coax each other to drive the song harder and faster.

The next track, “The Worst Fourth of July Ever” may be the best track on a CD full of really good songs. The guitars entwine perfectly, one brightly strumming while another picks the strings longingly. Carmen sings about the difficulty of living on the road while maintaining a life at home; “If I knew that the time would just stop on a dime, then I’d have been sold to stay home. I could sleep on our plans for one more year and wake up to thoughts that this time it was clear.” The song ends with a haunting vocal melody with everyone in the band harmonizing together; it is slightly evocative of Transatlanticism Death Cab but not obviously derivative.

Carried Names continues on with the stripped down “A Year Plus One Month,” a bittersweet ballad about the elusiveness of love and the refuge of religion. Though I generally abhor when bands drop the God bomb, there is something truly beautiful in Carmen’s imagery and delivery of the lines, “Remember sneaking into the church? Remember praying in its pews? It’s been a year plus one month so let’s apologize for our sins.”

The last two songs on the album, “7 Durant” and the title track “Carried Names” are just as remarkable as the previous four songs. “7 Durant” marvels at the wonder of cheap champagne, house parties, and long drives while “Carried Names” is a testament to longing with the song reaching a fist pumping crescendo complete with driving guitars and pleading vocals; powerful without being excessive, emotive without coming across whiny.

I strongly recommend this album to anyone who appreciates mid-90s emo but I feel good recommending Carried Names to anyone who likes music. Makeout Party are tight, inventive, and honest, possessing an emotional depth that feels like a breath of fresh air in a world full of shallow music and oversaturated markets.