#wild carnation

Wild Carnation - Cravo-selvagem (Dianthus sp)

Mértola/Portugal (27/04/2023)

1/24/24.

I'd never even heard of Wild Carnation (New Jersey) until Record Store Day 2023 when Delmore Recording Society reissued "Tricycle". I'm not totally sure what series of events brought me to these "Superbus" demos, but the lack of a physical release took me to Discogs when I found that "Superbus" was Wild Carnation's 2nd release - 12 years after "Tricycle". It has been reissued by Pine Hill Records.

Like many other Feelies related side projects, the Feelies DNA is unmistakable. Brenda Sauter was associated with not only The Feelies, but Speed the Plough and The Trypes. Those sensibilities are brought to this release as well.

Wild Carnation - Live on Three Chord Monte with Joe Belock on WFMU, November 3, 2009

Over on Aquarium Drunkard this week, I spoke with Brenda Sauter, bassist/vocalist for The Feelies / The Willies / The Trypes — and Wild Carnation! The latter band's debut LP, Tricycle, is being reissued in expanded / remastered form for Record Store Day this month — the first time it's been on vinyl, if you can believe it. Tricycle is definitely worth your time and money; I've been into it for a while now, but the remaster makes it sound bigger and better than ever. If you're a Feelies fan (and who in their right mind isn't a Feelies fan???), you gotta get it.

“The Rising Tide” buzzes in on a breezy blast of distortion, its guitar lines flaring into droning dissonance, the drums crisp and minimal, the bass a subtle through-line in a deliriously murky roar. The sound filters Velvet Underground fuzz through the jangling exuberance of early R.E.M., and except for its fluttering, trebly vocals it could easily put you in mind of the Feelies. No coincidence there.

Indeed, Wild Carnation was one of an interlocking circuit of New Jersey bands that shared members—and a certain buzzy, drone-y, jangly aesthetic—with the Feelies. It formed around 1992, after the Feelies first hiatus and included Feelies bassist Brenda Sauter, her husband Rich Barnes and drummer Chris O’Donovan. (In terms of intricate interconnections, Sauter and Barnes already played together in Trypes, and they were also in Speed the Plough.)

4/24/23.

While there is not a physical release on Bandcamp for Wild Carnation "Tricycle" is does exist. You'll need to check Discogs.

I'd never heard of this band until yesterday when I was perusing the Record Store Day releases at Armadillo Music. I got The Verlaines "Bird Dog" and noticed Wild Carnation. I saw the name Brenda Sauter and was immediately intrigued. Sauter was the bassist for The Feelies and played with The Trypes as well as Speed the Plough.

So, I bought "Tricycle", and it's everything I could have hoped for. There are 12 songs here that all sound like the above mentioned bands.

09.09.2021 M.R.

The world is full of wonders to discover:

don’t let it pass a single day, without being amazed.

Il mondo è pieno di meraviglie da scoprire:

non far trascorre un solo giorno, senza esserti stupito.