m caridi and the glow is the solo project of LVL UP guitarist Mike Caridi. LOSE is his latest EP, featuring six brief but super cool power pop tracks which hit the sweet spot between lo-fi rumble and sweet nostalgia. The songs were mostly written for or inspired by the may 5 to 12 project, a seven day songwriting challenge undertaken by LVL UP as well as lots of other cool bands such as Eskimeaux, Bellows, Free Cake For Every Creature and Small Wonder. Caridi plays most of the songs himself, but also gets some help from Nick Corbo (also of LVL UP and Crying) and Montana Levy (of Sharpless).
The EP opens with ‘Beamer’, which captures the fee of the record in under two minutes, part fun rock and roll, part something a little darker:
“beamer
i can hear ya but i can’t see ya
when i’m dreaming
of my old house,
it burned to the ground
but you’re still hanging
by the mini-ramp
sitting on your mother’s grave”
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The title track has loud chugging guitars but softer, earnest vocals which ruminate on relationship problems (“i can forget about it / i can be with someone new / i can drink and get lit / until i’m seeing two”), ‘Roof’ is a manic sub-sixty second blast, and ‘Yesterday’ has acoustic guitars and mumbled vocals which detail a good day hanging out with good people (“yesterday was a good day / mini-van highway with greg / and me with wind in my eyes”). Penultimate track ‘Birds’ is the album’s longest at just under 2:30, a meandering instrumental track that juxtaposes nicely with the short sweet bursts of the other songs, and then closer, ‘Death’, ties things up rather nicely with a slice of lo-fi DIY pop, kind of reminiscent of You Won’t:
“i’m sitting next to you
and i’m putting back a few
and i’m starting to feel the love
this time i know it’s true”
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You can download LOSE on a pay-what-you-want basis over at Bandcamp.