The New Music

Carissa’s Wierd They’ll Only Miss You When You Leave: Songs 1996-2003 [Hardly Art]

Need to know: Before there was Band of Horses, Grand Archives and Sera Cahoone, there was a band called Carissa’s Weird (the misspelling of “weird” was on purpose). Originally from Tuscon, Arizona, the band was formed in 1995 by vocalists Mat Brooke and Jenn Ghetto after meeting at a goth club. Self-described as “chamber rock,” Brooke and Ghetto established their hushed sound by writing and recording their songs on “cereal box-sized amplifiers” in the closet of Jenn’s mom. The band caught a break after touring with Modest Mouse, whose Isaac Brock met them after drunkenly crawling through their window one night (true story!). The duo eventually went on to add a rotating list of supporting musicians, which included Ben Bridwell, who went on to form Band of Horses with Brooke, and Sera Cahoone, who is currently a solo artist signed to Sub Pop. Carissa’s Wierd released three full-lengths - Ugly But Honest (1999) and You Should Be At Home Here (2001), which were released on Bridwell’s Brown Records, as well as Songs About Leaving (2002) - and two compilations - I Before E and Scrap Book. They also put out a 7” on Sub Pop in 2001 called “You Should Be Hated Here.” After breaking up in November 2003, the various members went on to form their own projects. Most famously, Bridwell and Brooke started Band of Horses, but Brooke left after the release of their first album, Everything All the Time, to focus on his own music, which became Grand Archives. Ghetto began working under the moniker S and Sera Cahoone did her own solo project. Carissa’s Wierd played one reunion show on July 9, 2010 in Seattle, thought without Bridwell. Brooke and Ghetto finally regained control of their back catalogue and have announced plans to reissue all of their albums.

In a few words: Released by Sub Pop’s sister label Hardly Art, They’ll Only Miss You When You Leave: Songs 1996-2003 is a “retrospective compilation spanning all of their releases, with tracks hand-picked by the band.” Without an intimate knowledge of the back catalogue, I can only attest for what’s covered here and the selections made by the band come off as a cohesive work. Meaning, if this was a debut album, it would succeed on many levels. Though it’s often regarded as a precursor to the most famous of its offshoots, Band of Horses, this comp makes it clear that Carissa’s Wierd is solely Mat Brooke and Jenn Ghetto’s baby. Still, it’s pretty easy to hear traces of these songs in any of the projects that came afterwards – for example, the warm melodies that ring out of the guitars and the hushed, vulnerability of the vocals. It’s the latter aspect of the music where Carissa’s Wierd were most effective in building a name for themselves in a sea of subdued indie rock outfits of this ilk. The tandem of Brooke and Ghetto presented a rare opportunity to hear two sublime voices come together, amidst such gorgeously stark arrangements, and bring out the best in each other.

Best track: “Phantom Fireworks”

R.I.Y.L. S, Band of Horses, Grand Archives, Sera Cahoone, Sun Kil Moon

Rating: 7.5/10

Buy, download, steal or don’t bother: Buy on vinyl for the large fold-out insert full of CW ephemera.

Sample: “The Color That Your Eyes Changed With the Color of Your Hair”

Website: myspace.com/carissaswierd