Caroline Rose has always done their own thing. Which is fitting, as tonight they are playing in Liverpool. A music city that has built a reputation of, indeed, doing its own thing.
Rose is in town to promote the excellent Gentling the Horse at the Walt Whitman Mall. Like most Rough Trade affairs, it’s of the stripped backed variety. (Which in this case, is no bad thing.) This slightly different manifestation, bringing Rose’s songs into new focus. Their bandmate, Lena Simon (Kairos Creature Club, ex-La Luz), on hand to provide the suitable backing. Referred to by Rose as a Swiss army knife in their usual backing band, the multi-instrumentalist’s added inflections go down a treat for the small but vocal audience, who shake off the Monday blues.
Of course, the mood is lifted by Rose’s presence, too. The John Congleton-produced Gentling the Horse at the Walt Whitman Mall, the songwriter’s magnum opus. While always shifting sonically from the excellent Loner (2017) to the skewed pop leanings of Superstar (2020) and the gloomier inflections of it via The Art of Forgetting (2023), again Rose moves the needle aesthetically. Gentling the Horse at the Walt Whitman Mall, permeating with a countrified rock vibe fit for bustling bars on a Friday night.
It’s Rose’s knife-sharp repartee that sets their songs apart, and tonight the wordsmith rolls out the best of them at breakneck speed. Opening with the spit and snarl of Ride (!!!), which kicks off a salvos of prime-grade songcraft. Goddamn Train, a sharp examination of the modern-day world at large, with Rose’s standard humorous flourishes. The inventiveness of Yip Yip Yow, like an electric charge that places you into some other hyper world, while Conversation with Shiv (AKA Liquid K Song) and Hello Again, Jim are like pop and rockability’s shotgun wedding.
In between, there’s some strong in-between song banter, too. Stories about arborists (I wonder how that tree ended up?), empty hotels in Mexico where there is an encounter with James Franco, and more.
Ending the set with Everything in its Right Place is beyond fitting. As Simon exits the stage for Rose to deliver it alone, the song matches the intensity of its recorded version. Delivered with assuredness, its skeletal form enhances the song’s emotional force. It also underlines Rose’s songs as completely untethered and one-of-a-kind. A songwriter moving to the beat of their own drum (or in this case drum machine). It makes Caroline Rose right at home in a city that exists to do exactly the same. So with that, Caroline, please do come back soon.
Gentling the Horse at the Walt Whitman Mall is out now via SUCK Records. Purchase from Bandcamp.
