Carsick Cars - 3
Carsick Cars is a Chinese indie rock trio who blend their jangly bilingual talents (most of the lyrics are in Mandarin?) throughout all of ‘3’, their aptly titled third studio album. The simple guitar/bass/drum melodies play off of each other extraordinarily well, but make no mistake by thinking this is your typical indie rock.
Recommend if you like Sonic Youth, Velvet Underground, The Radio Dept.
FCC Clean.
- The Narrator

1. Wild Grass (3:59) - Opening the album and getting down to business. Infectious bass lines, intricate drum work, and excellent guitar solos.
2. ** The Best VPN so Far (4:55) - Builds up with sick guitar solo for first 2 and a half minutes before mellowing out for the remainder of the track. No lyrics but a beautiful and powerful track.
3. 15 Minutes Older (4:19) - Sung in english, this is a very accessible track with a simple guitar riff and catchy lyrics.
4. Reaching the Light (3:51) - Starts with a jagged beginning before launching into quite a melodic piece. There are some nice pedal effects used here.
5. Everybody comes to the city now, Everybody wants to be free but don’t know how (4:26) - Very nice harmony on this track. Upbeat guitar tempo keeps gradually speeds up halfway through before a smooth outro.
6. Midnight Driver (4:39) - This song swings between upbeat rock harmony and hard fuzzy guitar solos. Also sung in English.
7. Shelter Song (4:55) - A slower, more gentle track than what is seen on the rest of the album. Although I don’t understand a word that is said, the emotion still shines through.
8. ** Could You Be There? (5:39) - Xylophone sounds open while the track builds momentum and finds itself in a pleasant repeat of the song title - “Could you be there in triple time?"
9. 512 (4:26) - Another more experimental (and English) track. The song builds excitement before finding itself in a perfectly calculated guitar freakout.
10. ** She Will Not Wait (5:54) - Clear Velvet Underground influence on this track. Slower tempo and genuinely felt guitar riffs finds itself easy on the ears. One of my favorite on the track.
11. White Song (6:52) - Song opens with a 2 min synthesizer loop reminiscent of The Who’s ‘Baba O’Riley’. Distorted lyrics bleed in with guitar and thundering drums as the song evolves and becomes more complex and intense. A beautiful album closer.