Carl Anderson – Chronophobia
Carl Anderson – Chronophobia – Album Review
How this dude isn’t among the most well-known musicians out there in the independent scene today, I will never know…it’s honestly a freakin’ crime. After the random experience I had in posting up one of his songs called “Machina” to the SBS Secret Stash Of Stellar Singles at some point last year, where I was lambasted by some rando on the internet that said something to the effect of “THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CARL ANDERSON” – which was admittedly extremely comical & I should have left the comment up…but I had to wonder if he’s even in the running for the most well-known Carl Anderson. Lemme assure you folks…I do not know exactly how many might be out there, but there really is only ONE that is currently making music at this incredible level with this much of an identity in his sound. No joke folks…you can have a look at our history right here on our pages so far and you’ll read about the fact that he’s never released a record yet that hasn’t made our yearly top ten, and when you listen to how freakishly gripping the opening of “Walking Death 1 & 2” is as this new album Chronophobia roars into place, you have to smile & wonder how on earth he wouldn’t end up on our list in December again. This dude is just too damn good at what he does…that’s the point I’m making…hell – that’s the point a song like “Walking Death 1 & 2” makes for itself! The attention to detail that Carl applies to his music is straight up staggering…it’s not just what he plays, it’s how he plays it…it’s not just the incredible samples he finds, but how he uses them…it’s not just the sound, it’s the whole vibe he’s got…and you know what else? For as awesome as all that stuff I’ve cited truly IS, it still ain’t nothing in comparison to actually HEARING THIS AWESOMENESS FOR YOURSELF…and Carl makes that possible by giving away every single one of his records for free. I’m tellin’ ya, he’s an inspiration to the scene by every conceivable definition. The riff that starts up “Walking Death 1 & 2” will melt your face…and the drums are equally kickass y’all.
There are so many folks out there that don’t really have their OWN thing, know what I mean? Don’t get me wrong, I’m always an advocate for just how many amazing music there really is out there…but you are lucky if you’ve been able to stumble across ONE Carl Anderson that does what they do in a way that no one else could do it on the inside of one lifetime. He’s never put a single word of his own into his material as far as I know…yet there’s no mistaking a Carl Anderson song in my opinion…and I am HERE FOR IT dear readers, dear friends, every time. “Infinity (Gael)” launches like a sonic rocket through your speakers, as intended, by design. I know I tend to say this a lot when I’m writing about his music, but the reality is, it’s the truth – the samples this guy pulls will fucking blow your mind. I don’t know where he finds them…and I don’t know how he stows them away until he’s got the perfect song to use with them, or if he hears something and builds a song around them right there and then – but the choices he makes with his samples is as brilliantly compelling as the music he creates to surround them. That being said, chances are, “Infinity (Gael)” might have something in there that you actually HAVE heard before in your late-night travels through the archives of the internet as Carl blasts this track straight to the moon, so enjoy that…it’s rare that you’d probably recognize anything in terms of the samples he uses, though I can promise you this – whether you do or you don’t, it will never compromise how addictive his music is.
Case in-point…if you can figure out where he’s pulled the words from at the start of “The Badge 1,” then you win the prize for knowing like…everything? Artists like Carl do a remarkable job of speaking through what they choose to include – and this isn’t the first time he’s chosen to include a musical statement on law enforcement through the tunes he’s created either. So rest assured, he’s got the law on his mind & clearly has an opinion on it, even though he doesn’t directly say anything through his own words. To me, it’s nothing short of remarkable what he’s able to achieve and how much his music is really able to say in a circumstance like that. In tandem with the music, he’ll relay what a song is truly all about if you’re listening between the grooves, you feel me? At first, you might feel like “The Badge 1” is trying to support the Thin Blue Line as it begins with its statistics on how cops are dying here and there throughout the city streets – apparently mostly on Saturday nights, and who knew that? LISTEN to the brilliance of Carl Anderson at work though y’all…listen to the way “The Badge 1” shifts directions entirely around the 3:20 mark, transitions into a wild Blues-Rock groove, and starts imparting the hippie wisdom on ya, giving the song a completely different perspective & direction than it originally displays.
I could write entire essays on the way this guy makes music. I’d be the last to claim that I even fully ‘get it’ myself, but I’ll tell ya this much – his songs sure make me WANT to try. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a bad tune from Anderson’s catalog to-date, on any of his albums. As he moves into “The Badge 2” – he’s clearly not done with what he wants to say about law enforcement this time around…and he’s put together an interesting second half that flips the perspective around to giving police a voice on what their intentions are in the mission their on to serve the public. What I LOVE about Carl’s music beyond anything, is that you have to wonder what has made him choose to go in the directions he chooses. As in, it’s not like this whole conversation hasn’t been a justifiably hot-button issue for the past several years – but at the same time, you don’t get the sense that Carl’s taking a complete stance on standing with law enforcement at all, even though he’s done nothing other than let these samples do the talking for him; these are pieces of our history that highlight what our attitude towards policing has been over the course of time. To me, and this is just theory of course, the fact that he’s using the samples he has about what these crime fighters have been fighting for, is likely a statement on the fact that they’ve drifted miles away from their original intentions, and/or that they were never as sincere in those intentions as we have always been led to believe. But that’s just the true beauty of the situation overall – Carl essentially conjures up projection from each and every one of us as we listen…if you were truly pro-police, you might hear something completely different than I do in a song like “The Badge 1” or “The Badge 2” – he allows for a wildly interpretive element to exist that would morph any song’s meaning to how we hear things specifically through the filters we naturally apply in the bubbles that we all live in. Listen to that rhythm and flow in the riffs around the two-minute mark though will ya? Trust me, it’s hard not to get wrapped up in the incredible stories he creates through the samples he pulls most of the time…and like…when you snap out of that for a second or two, you realize how AMAZING the music is.
Proficient don’t even cover half of it y’all, I assure ya – Carl’s making PROFOUND music that should be on every single one of your playlists out there. Ultimately, I think he takes on a lot of misinformation through the music he makes, and highlights how we are often forced to take it as truth based on how it’s been presented to us throughout history. Or maybe he just digs the dramatic element on how so much of what gets communicated to us seems like it’s a fucking life or death situation that we have to take seriously, like what you hear on “Black Lung Blues.” First of all, give this man some credit where credit is due – the instrumentation in this track is impeccable, the timing is exceptional, and from the drums to the bass to the guitar, it should pretty much leave you with your jaw on the ground. What this one man has been able to accomplish with a handful of musical guests gathered from all over the world…and what they’ve all been able to accomplish together, is flat-out superhuman…that’s all there is to it and I wouldn’t hear an argument otherwise. “Black Lung Blues” shows us how the information around smoking has shifted and been communicated to us over time…and I’ll let you be the judge and jury as to whether or not you feel like what you’re hearing is accurately true. All I’ll say is this…you’d figure than anyone that ever lit up a cigarette would have dropped dead within a year’s time based on all the samples you’ll hear and the implied horror of every scenario they highlight…yet you probably know at least a dozen people personally that managed to make it into their late eighties or longer even with a smoke hangin’ off of their lips to that final breath, now don’t ya? “Black Lung Blues” is killer to listen to…the way the instrumental solos in the middle of this song work and how it all snaps back into place around the 4:30 mark before LIGHTING UP the finale…this track is ALL that smoke AND the fire!
“Titan” brings the intensity straight to your speakers in the way that “Walking Death 1 & 2” did as the album opened up, providing an audible line in the sand effect that blasts you out of the serenity of trying to figure out your consciousness on “Chronophobia” and right back into the meat of the music. I always think it’s incredibly important for Carl to make this move on his albums, and as far as I can recall, I think he has every time…he gives you a straight dose of his instrumentation without the samples here. Don’t get me wrong…I absolutely LOVE what this guy accomplishes by the merging of two worlds with the samples he chooses and uses so well – but I would NEVER want the incredible ideas & musicianship of this man to be lost on the audience out there listening. Sometimes the best way to remind folks that they’re listening to more than just some cool blasts from the past in the samples is to remove that one element and let our ears discover how much is really going on around all that. “Titan” is an exploratory journey in sound that should very well be awe inspiring to everyone listening. In my personal opinion, I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever heard a better track in Carl’s catalog to-date, and that’s clearly saying a lot considering the fact that I’ve loved everything this guy has ever put onto a record. My words would be equally useless in trying to explain this to ya though…”Titan” is the kind of song that speaks for itself, and when you hear it, you’ll understand exactly what I’ve been getting at & why I feel the way that I do. Suffice it to say, it’s an incredibly complete idea, it plays like its own instrumental Rock Opera on the inside of one track, with parts that are absolutely outstanding to listen to, definition that is robust and second to none, and meaty hooks like you rarely find in music without words. “Titan” is a goddamn sonic achievement from start to finish y’all…I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Carl is superhuman.
Speaking of goddamn – how about some “Hypocrisy” for ya? Pulling no punches, Anderson fucks up religion to the point where Jesus’ own momma wouldn’t recognize him no more. With preachers screaming about the consequences of our actions and the fires of hell awaiting us for them, contrasting with samples from the news that continually point out how many ACTUAL atrocities are coming straight from the pulpit…”Hypocrisy” is a true glimpse behind the curtain that the faith-based folks refuse to see. Would it have been the perfect place for a church organ solo? Sure! Maybe that’s like, the one and only thing I can think of that Carl could have done to make any song on this freakishly incredible record be any better than it already is…but at the same time, he’s got a tiny synth sound added to this song that nearly acts in a similar way I suppose. Good LORD he crushed this song though, did he not? From the theme itself, to the way he presents it, to the unfiltered & direct preaching and how over the top it is given how much we know about how corrupt religion has genuinely become…”Hypocrisy” is award-worthy writing that shows how Carl uses his music to make us think, consider, and hopefully, evolve. Maybe it’s in the listening of “Hypocrisy” that someone out there will learn something they didn’t know or didn’t understand before, and realize that those that teach the good book ain’t so good themselves. I always say that religion and music are two of the most fascinating things we can experience when they’re combined and starts a conversation always worth having. I’m one of the only reviewers I know of that has no problem with faith-based music, even though I think it’s very rare to hear any that’s good – I enjoy the topic even though I’m not a believer whatsoever. The rhythm section of “Hypocrisy” is immaculate y’all…the only faith I have in anything resides in music, and it’s the only thing I believe is real. Other than that, there isn’t a whole lot for me in the valley of malls we’ve created on this planet. “Hypocrisy” is devilishly entertaining, and the points Carl’s making in this song are completely accurate.
Speaking of learning something…any time you ever see a name as a title on a song you’re listening to, you should take a moment or two to go down the rabbit-hole and see what you can find. “Emmett Myers” was apparently a serial killer from back in the early 50s, who basically victimized hitchhikers to sum up his psychopathic tendencies. He ends up actually inspiring a “film noir thriller co-written and directed by Ida Lupino” called The Hitch-Hiker from what I’ve read online…and now I wanna see that freakin’ movie ASAP thanks to Anderson and this song here! Chances are, a lot of the samples we’re hearing are likely pulled from that very film, though without having seen it myself, it’s impossible for me to say for certain. It sure seems like something Carl would do and the era he seems to pull a lot of his samples from. It’s also like Anderson to dive into the darker-side of who we are as a society in the music he makes too…”Emmett Myers” is solid fusion of psychopathy and psychedelic sound as one. All-in-all, it’s a good reminder that, as crazy as this planet can be (and is), it’s constantly and consistently been that way for as long as the twisted roots of the history of humanity are. We’ve always been fucked up as a species, and the darkness of “Emmett Myers” reveals our brutality & our natural predatory nature.
Remarkable timing and instrumentation on “Walking Death 3” as well…not that this hasn’t been the case for literally EVERY song you’ll experience in Carl’s entire catalog, but you get what I’m getting at. There’s no doubt that this third chapter of his “Walking Death” series has a very different flavor to it, probably even acoustic-based, though laden with effects in the production…and in many ways, I suppose it serves as the epilogue to what we experienced as the album began. As it relays the true rules of war & explains how there really are no rules at all, “Walking Death 3” might be more subtle than its previous chapters, but thematically it’s no less potent or poignant. It’s a little eerie, a little beautiful, and of course it’s as fascinating to listen to as you’d expect from a Carl Anderson tune. It might appear to be more mellow and delicate, but make no mistake, this mother is still movin’ QUICK and each note you’ll hear played within it is as bold and deliberate as ever. Anderson never lets you down in that regard with respect to his musicianship, passion, and what he puts into a song. You might like or love the different themes he writes about, or feel a certain type of way about the point of view he presents through his tunes – but what we’ll all agree on, every single time, is that the level of effort he puts in is straight aces in audible form. There’s never been a time where Carl’s remotely skimped on ya from performance to production, and my gut tells me that’s never going to be the case – the man truly goes all-in, every time.
I suppose if there’s a track of the fourteen that seemed a bit less consequential to the lineup overall, it’s probably gonna be “Tannhäuser Gate” when it comes right down to it. I’m still lovin’ it every bit as much, don’t get me wrong – and I absolutely love the way the drums come into this tune – but if we’re talking about comparisons to the mind-blowing material you’ve already heard on this record, it’s fair to say that “Tannhäuser Gate” serves more as a moment for you to reset, catch your breath, and brace yourself for the final three songs to come on Chronophobia. Don’t underestimate this tune though – I guarantee if you give it a couple of dedicated spins in a row, you’ll dig on the hypnotic vibes it generates and fully appreciate that catchiness of the rhythmic hooks it has at its core every bit as much as the rest of the music you’ve heard on this record. I like the Post-Punk influence on the guitars in the background and I like the distance they have in the mix of this tune as well, playing more of a supporting role than in the spotlight where the guitars usually are in Carl’s music, letting the digitalized flavor of the vibe in this track come to the surface as its main element. Like I said, there’s still a whole lot to dig on here…the groove and stomp of “Tannhäuser Gate” has a ton of merit to it, even if it seems low-key energy-wise in comparison to the majority of the rest of the set. Carl plays with significant purpose and intent, and you feel that come through every note, tone and drum hit he adds into the mix of “Tannhäuser Gate,” 100%.
Like…where on earth does he find these incredible samples he chooses to use, I will never know. “Careless Fred” has samples you’d practically kill to find if you were attempting to make music in a similar way to how Carl does…he just seems to instinctively know where to find the right pieces to his puzzles from the cosmic word-shop…and however he does it, I’m all for it. For real though, you have to wonder how many hours he’s put into bingeing late-night black & white movies and old-school PSAs in order to do what he does…it’s to the point where you’d think he wouldn’t be able to be as amazing of a musician as he is, simply due to how much time he’d had to theoretically spend with his television screen. Yet here we are, and the case is fully closed – he finds the right samples, he creates bulletproof music you cannot find fault in, and the end results are as artful as they are entertaining. He’s workin’ with a kind of Morello-esque groove on “Careless Fred” – and clearly that’s going to be relevant for many of ya listening out there. Even as the album began, you can feel that influence creep into the way the fiery intensity of Carl’s guitar has been played…and in the lower-key/mellower moments like you’ll find as “Careless Fred” switches things up around the 2:30 mark, it’s like the cleverness you’d find in something like Tool or Tortoise, demonstrating a versatility in the instrumentation that relentlessly hits the mark. Chronophobia is fourteen songs long…and y’all know how often I preach how few albums there are that are seamless beyond ten or twelve tunes at the max…but this one would qualify for sure.
The real epilogue of the “Walking Death” series comes through the final part, with the forlorn and melancholy vibes of “Walking Death 4” towards the end of the lineup. With its samples musing on the finality of war and the few certainties it offers through its unpredictable nature…and how it might just give you the option of walking to your freedom, or dying in place. It’s GRIM…no doubt about that…and presenting the option of what might happen in a wartime situation as any kind of a choice whatsoever should give us all some pause to consider…but at the same time, there’s a whole lot of truth to be found inside the sample you’ll find in this tune as well. Love the music that Carl’s paired with this one and how genuinely moving, thought-provoking, desolate, melodic, and sad it truly is…yet somehow, it’d still qualify as beautiful too when you factor in how appropriate it is and how well-played this moment is. This is the kind of effective narrative & presentation that has you right on the edge of your seat to listen.
After bringing it down for a moment energy-wise, you know that Carl’s gonna kick things up a notch to say the least, especially when it comes time for the finale cut of his new record, which expands over a ten-minute timeframe. While you might expect “History” to be the wildest cut of them all, I think it’ll surprise folks listening by how it remains in a mellower gear and keeps things professionally controlled instead. What’s really kickass about this track is that it’s definitely more for the dedicated fans than anything else, tying in themes and samples you’ve heard throughout Anderson’s entire catalog into the fabric of this song in a summary type of way that brings his “History” vividly to life through your speakers. Of course, that’s not something fully revealed at the beginning, but “History” doesn’t really work that way to begin with, know what I mean? It’s always a retrospective thing…so you’ll get like, an eight-minute chunk of this rhythmic groove to fill your boots on long before Carl twists this concept into its final chapter – but it’s got a very hybrid vibe that’s sure to keep y’all fully entertained. In many ways, I’d actually put “History” up there with some of the most universally accessible and relevant vibes you’ll hear on this album overall…which in itself is impressive, considering how long the song is. Great breakdown in its quietest moments just past the six-minute mark, solid bring-back to it as it flares back up again…and you really can’t beat the stellar stomp this beat has at the core of its DNA. It’s a smart idea to conclude this new record overall…”History” will have you appreciating the hybrid depth in Carl’s material and how cohesive it’s been considering its authentic diversity from the moment it starts, to the moment it’s over.
I’ll never get enough of Carl’s music…every time I hear it, I already can’t wait for whatever comes next.
Find his music for FREE at Bandcamp, right here: https://carlanderson2.bandcamp.com
Find out what we do & how we do it at sleepingbagstudios, and be the next up on our pages by clicking here!
