Carpark’s new EP is titled Born To Be Average, yet their music is anything but average. Sophie, Hattie, and Lauren have released the five track EP that every teenage girl has been wishing for.
The three-piece describes the EP as an introduction to the new Carpark era with “heavy rock and even some dance elements”.
The process of recording Born To Be Average has been special for the girl band, as it was the first time they were able to sit down and record a whole EP in one go. It took the band a year to record their first EP The World Ended in 2012 as they “used to record one song at a time and we would have big gaps in between songs while we saved up to record the next one”. So, being able to record Born To Be Average in one sitting has been a big change for the band, as it allowed them to be more consistent with the style of the EP, being able to stay in the same headspace.
The EP starts off with ‘MIA’, a dreamy and nostalgic tune that puts you right back into the 90s. Angsty, grungy lyrics are being accompanied by soft guitar strings that turn into a raging cascade of instruments. ‘MIA’ is energetic and fast-paced, highlighting the alt-pop bands grungier sounds.
Right after ‘MIA’, Carpark dive into the single that gave the EP its name, ‘Born To Be Average’, with heavy guitars and yet another soft spoken voice mouthing the lyrics into the microphone. The mixture between rocky instruments and dreamy vocals is what makes Carpark so unique, dishevelling the lyrics ‘cause I was born to be average’. If there’s one thing clear, it’s that Carpark isn’t average at all.
‘Happy on Mars’ is a softer ballad on the record, stepping away from loud and heavy instruments, with a slow pace and focusing on the soft vocals and lyrics instead. The band themselves describe the song as a mixture of a rock ballad and an Elon Musk diss track – and we couldn’t have worded it any better.
‘Suburbs of Hell’ is a classic poppy guitar tune, with the lyrics being anything but average pop music as they’re portraying the feminine rage. The chorus is catchy, yet the classic Carpark grungy undertone and riffs in this song remind the listener of Carpark’s punchy signature sound.
‘Blow Me Out Of The Water’ isn’t blowing anyone out of the water, but blowing the listener’s mind. In the intro of the song, the instruments are a bit heavier than on the other tracks on the EP, but in no way does this do the song any harm. It’s a track made to be played in the scene of an early 2000s coming of age movie as the female protagonist is storming into her room trying to deal with overwhelming emotions.
All in all, Carpark have created a musical sensation with Born To Be Average, as the careful mixture of loud, heavy instruments and soft spoken vocals make for the perfect mixture to daydream the day away.
Written by: Svenja Nowak
Edited by: Nèri Cliteur
