no:carrier
Broken Rainbow
(Electric Heresy)

San Francisco’s “electro noire” pop duo no:carrier unleashes their latest Broken Rainbow, and it is quite the blipping, synth farting, dripping-sound unleashing. “Broken Rainbow” opens in all its sweeping atmospheric synth splendor, not taking us all that far, but certainly setting a dark, layered mood. Then we are into “Little Death (Version 16)” with its mix of plodding piano and William Orbit, single-note bleeping, and talking vocals. I like “Your Heroin,” the song that follows, with its sweeping synth strings and piano, and Lou Reed-like male vocal delivery. This obvious single is the best song for me in the mix of the first few here. The band’s cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising” is an interesting take. Slow and piano-led with a warbly female vocal, I always applaud artists trying to cover songs in their own way. no:carrier does so well here. By the time we get to the chorus, the metallic sounds bleed in and rise to some true horror movie-like backing. Ending the album, “The Man Who Drew Cats” flows from chime sounds into a quite pretty piano and strings. The female vocal here is quite haunting actually; it’s the best of all vocals on this release. Chris Wirsig, the main songwriter and producer of no:carrier, says, “We’re not going on the trodden paths. We stay true to our ideals and write and record exactly the songs we want.”