The Carp: Tangled Up with the Two Tailed Rat 12"

Our favorite fishy boot boys, THE CARP, are back with their sophomore LP. Born out of a PERVERTS AGAIN practice that Alex WARD didn't show up for and a mutual love of street punk and Oi!, THE CARP mashes the two through the skewed lens of the 'Kids Who Brought You CRUELSTER. 11 pissed off rapid-Fire rants about the drones flying over our heads, the data centers in our backyards, the unaffordability of living, and the billionaires who make it all possible. The Carp are here to give you your marching orders, so lace up your docs, head to your nearest lake, and join the local chapter of the fish militia! 'Tangled Up With The Two Tailed Rat' is sardonic, anthemic, and 100% TOTAL PUNK!!!!

Our take: The Carp follows up their 2024 debut on Total Punk (which we named Record of the Week when it came out) with their second album. As you’re probably aware, the Carp is part of the Cruelster cinematic universe, the band having started on a whim when Cruelster’s bassist couldn’t make it to one of their practices. While there are a lot of similarities between these related bands, each project has its own identity, and the Carp is (nominally at least) the oi! band, with a simpler, punkier musical approach and a lyrical focus on themes of work and class; the insert for this record has the slogan “working class rock music” emblazoned across the top. “Working class rock music” isn’t a slogan that speaks to me particularly (there are way too many fucking terrible oi! bands out there), but the key thing to understand is that this whole oi! / working class thing is heavily filtered through guitarist / vocalist / lyricist Nathan Ward’s extremely unique perspective and artistic voice. I am a total Nathan Stan, and one of the highlights of my sad little life is when one of Nathan’s bands releases a new record and I get to sit down with the lyric sheet and try to decipher Nathan’s trademark scrawl in order to find out what’s going on in that beautiful brain of his. Tangled Up with the Two Tailed Ratscratches that itch, with Nathan’s trademark potpourri of surrealistic imagery, conspiracy talk, keen political / social insight, and LOL-evoking one-liners. While the lyrics are the highlight for me, the Carp’s music hits hard too, with its skewed take on classic street punk and a few tracks (“I Crave the City” and “Fuck Alex Karp,” for instance) whose hooks land with even more impact than usual. If you loved the first album, you’ll love this one. If you haven’t yet found your foothold in this little world, this is as good a place as any to dive in and get acquainted with one of the coolest and most unique things happening in the contemporary punk world.