Just six months after releasing their debut EP, a furious five tracks recorded during their bFM in-session, Caroles have delivered their first full length album, Hollow Trophy. Recorded for the most part in a single day in between a tight schedule of ‘tripping balls’ and ‘eating fungi’, the album is a gnarly piece of work, but certainly not without appeal.
Continuing in much the same vein as before, the band explore a heavy combination of thundering bass and drums along with screaming guitar and some pretty nasty vocals. Though here, Caroles’ sound seems less softened by their pizza eating, stoner appeal and a sure step up in aggression and vitriol. ‘Wake up Hugh’ in particular is a blistering track showing the intensity of their droning instrumentals whilst the distorted, almost background vocals remain uniquely melodic.
The album’s intensity levels out in the second half with the darkly theatrical ‘Big Mac Quesadilla’ and even darker closing tracks ‘Hollow Trophy’ and ‘Let me up’, the latter two being some of the most effective work on the album despite their comparable restraint. Closing up at around the 30 minute mark, Hollow Trophy goes by quickly, but the change in pace and apparent extrospective /introspective shift rounds out the nine tracks nicely.
