Discontinued Perfume

Who are The Caribbean? They've been on Hometapes since 2004, helping plow the land that grows bands you've heard of. If indie rock is a high school, The Caribbean - Michael Kentoff, Matthew Byars, and Dave Jones - sit at the lunch table with Daniel Higgs, Wayne Coyne, and John Darnielle. But since their inception in 2000, they've always hidden behind something: lyrics, unorthodox chord progressions, slithering melodies, iconic-but-abstract visual art, humor and satire, a nearly un-Google-able band name, and even their own normal-guy appearance. Discontinued Perfume, their first album in three years, began no differently: it was born Municipal Stadium, in the tradition of ambiguous album names like Plastic Explosives and Populations. But then the compass arrow turned. On the suggestion of friend and album co-producer Chad Clark, the song "Discontinued Perfume" - a reference to the mysteriously doomed Teresa Duncan and Jeremy Blake - surfaced as the namesake. This change in direction, with a name so open to interpretation and edging on sounding pretty, was no subtle shift. For The Caribbean, and specifically frontman Michael Kentoff, this was a revelation. He is not the first to put his truths to music. But The Caribbean, and specifically Discontinued Perfume in its honesty about modern life, are ambling toward universal truths. This band, and we as listeners, cannot be separated from the era we live in. Our waking life has expanded to embrace new dimensions of communication, experience, and measurement. Our own evolution has Google Analytics running on it. Your pocket is probably vibrating. And, all the while, there's a collective unrest among us, a zeitgeist of twenty-first century realization. "Many of the songs are about trying to see through closed doors," Kentoff says, "trying to understand people who have done terrible or unfathomably disturbing things ("Lands & Grooves," "The Declarative," "Discontinued Perfume"), people who hurt you ("Collapsitarians," "Outskirts"), those with no ability to communicate or who communicate in off-putting ways ("The Clock Tower," "Municipal Stadium," "Mr. Let's Find Out"), victims and/or oppressors ("Thank You for Talking to Me About Israel," "Supply Lines"), or just one's own mysterious dual life ("Artists in Exile")."

The Caribbean's writing process is only matched in intensity and experimentalism by their recording process. The sonic steps taken by Discontinued Perfume illuminate the psychological strides of the album. Matthew Byars' rhythmic arrangements, from percussion to synthesis to vocals, armor Kentoff's conceptual core. Dave Jones always-otherworldly guitar has sprouted a tractor beam, transporting you from song to song without ever touching the ground. This trio, bolstered by the sonic presence of usual collaborators Tony Dennison and Don Campbell along with friends Brad Laner (Medicine), Thomas Wincek (Volcano Choir, All Tiny Creatures), Nick Butcher, Slaraffenland, and Chad Clark (Beauty Pill, Smart Went Crazy), has made their finest music to date. Discontinued Perfume is about the gray area - where we all live. The Caribbean builds up and tears down again, embracing all the magic of the world. Identity is intangible and uncontainable; you do your best to stake a claim, realizing that the power to be anything is largely out of your hands. The lesson of this album is that there is no lesson. The songs of Discontinued Perfumeare snow globes - tiny dioramas to be shaken and shaken again. Like living, The Caribbean is not easy. . . until you put on your headphones, stop worrying, and let it be.