Caroline Smith & The Good Night Sleeps: Little Wind
Caroline Smith started her career at an early age. By 16, she was self-releasing CDs and playing out at coffee houses in her local, Minneapolis, MN. The, now, 23 year old is fronting her own band, Caroline Smith & The Good Night Sleeps. The band releases their sophomore album, Little Wind.
Caroline Smith & The Good Night Sleeps play a generic brand of indie rock. There is not a lot to be blown away with, musically. The opening track “Tanktop” reminds me of The Long Winters. The track features a uptempo drum beat with the addition R.E.M.-esque arpeggios and jazzy keyboards. What makes the track attention-grabbing is Smith. Her voice has a certain retro charm to it; it reminds me of a female version of Bruno Mars mixed with Katherine Whalen.
Her voice is also dynamic enough to command a more uptempo track like “Tanktop” but also a sparsely instrumented ballad like “Eagle’s Nest.” Having such a front woman definitely saves a couple tracks on the album, but I can’t get over the feeling that Little Wind just is not all that exciting. Nothing about the album calls me to listen to it multiple times.
Rating: 6.9/10
MP3: Caroline Smith & The Good Night Sleeps “Tanktop”
Buy: iTunes