I, like most good, decent people on this Earth, seriously enjoyed Erotic Nightmare Summer when it came out in June of 2020. I'm of course talking about the LP from Rochester's Carpool, not the sexy night terrors that visited me that year (the nature of which I will not elaborate on further). The album (not the night terrors) was a solid take on that well-worn Prince Daddy school of indie and emo, where the band hammer strums their solid body electric guitars like they're playing acoustic while classic rock flare and odd bursts of sparkle chords creep in around the corners, replete with introspective lyrical turns of phrase and an overall performance that is conducive to shout induced vocal strain. Honestly, when a band can pull this off, I have very few notes, just two thumbs up. It's taken Carpool two years to follow their last release with For Nasal Use Only, and I'd say it has been worth the wait, but that implies that I anticipated where the band was going with their latest EP. I didn't anticipate shit. As far as I'm concerned, this is the Carpool reintroducing themselves all over again. Not because they've changed their sound, but because they've made it over in such a way that comparing their past to their present is like comparing the features of a 2015 model sedan to a current model import sports car- they're faster, smoother, more versatile, and gosh darn prettier to boot. Firstly, Carpool are much better at spacing out their individual performances to allow for each member's contributions to shine through, and yet they all jell together with a lovely sense of cohesiveness. The forwardness of the synths in the mix aids in this more balanced approach, but they also seem more comfortable playing together as well, and this comfort allows them to move in impressive coordination like a murmuration of birds or a large school of fish. This fine-tuned display of coordinated effort allows for the opener, "Anime Flashback," to achieve this grand and gradual, sparkling momentum, splitting open and reforming without losing its essential shape, like a cloudburst of pure sunshine. The melodies they construct here are less frantic as well, as exemplified by "Discretion of Possession (A Love Song)," which I swear has as much contemporary country and gospel in its DNA as anything you'll hear on the radio out in the sticks that surround a give urban enclave. This refounded emphasis on melody also helps strengthen their established sound, such as on the closer "Everyone's Happy (Talk My Shit)," where a springy counter-rhythm platforms a high-fiving call and response between the lead and background vocals and acts as a taut throughline for an extended and ruminating bridge that comes on like a latent hallucination after smashing too many edibles at a house party. The high points of this last example is alternative rock par excellence, on the level with "Teenage Dirtbag," and I won't countenance your counterfactuals without a fight. For Nasal Use Only is an opening up of the band's sound that I hope they can keep building on to reach their potential. I'm not making any predictions, though. Whatever they do next, I'm sure it will be great (and I'm keeping my figures crossed that I haven't jinxed them by saying as much)!
