Caroliner, a group formed in 1983 in San Francisco, is an

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

bluegrass–

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

–

Noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...

conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...

band that uses instruments from bluegrass and rock traditions, as well as homemade electronics and other modified instruments. In their live performances, band members play characters in an other-worldly pageantry, wearing elaborate homemade costumes and performing on a stage decorated with drawings and set pieces, all covered in

day-glo The Day-Glo Color Corp. (also styled as DayGlo) is a privately held American paint and pigments manufacturer based in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded in 1946 by brothers Joseph and Robert Switzer and is currently owned by RPM International. It ...

paint. The band has toured Europe, Japan, and North America.

Band Membership

Caroliner's members are anonymous, but use aliases (Obsidian Skeleton, The Sickwood Adventure, and Cottypearile Weddingforke).Identity Theory: Random Truths About Caroliner
/ref> The aliases are only used during interviews with the band; no credits appear on any Caroliner records. In her autobiography, cartoonist

Dame Darcy Darcy Megan Stanger (born June 19, 1971, Caldwell, Idaho), better known by the pen name Dame Darcy, is an alternative comics, alternative cartoonist, fine artist, musician, cabaret performer, and animator/filmmaker. Her "Neo-Victorian" comic boo ...

writes about her membership in the band in the late 1980s/early 1990s.

Band Name

The Caroliner band name changes from album to album, and tour to tour. For instance, the band's name on their 1990 album I'm Armed With Quarts of Blood is ''Caroliner Rainbow Stewed Angel Skins'', whereas on 1995's Sell Heal Holler the band is called ''Caroliner Rainbow Customary Relaxation Of The Shale''. The reason for this is unknown but could be connected to personnel changes within the band. When referring to the band as a whole, the Caroliner name stands alone (rather than the oft-used 'Caroliner Rainbow').

Press

Jamie Rake, in ''Sound Choice,'' described Caroliner's music as follows: : "Caroliner is the sound of atrophy, the noise of salvation and damnation's collision in a parallel dimension to purgatory, the random rumbling of the bowels of the universe turned inside out to become a semblance of music complete with lyrical vantage points so convolutedly arcane to make comprehending them impossible, save for the few gnostically inclined aspirants bent in similar psychic permutations."

Alex Ross Nelson Alexander Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an American comic book writer and artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers, and design work. He first became known with the 1994 miniseries ''Marvels'', on which he collaborated wi ...

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

noted: : "On top of the visual extravagance, Caroliner has somehow forged an original musical style. The songs typically fuse together a grinding, relentless bass line, country-ish

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

strummings, spastic vocals ranging across several octaves, a wheezing organ drone, and screeching violin

tremolo In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are two types of tremolo. The first is a rapid reiteration: * Of a single Musical note, note, particularly used on String instrument#Bowing, bowed string instrument ...

s. Despite the splintered aesthetic, a lumbering grandeur gathers ...... Space does not permit a description of the lyrics, which purport to interpret the prophecies of a 19th-century Wisconsin cow."Alex Ross: The Rest Is Noise
In May, 2011, the band received notice on the Fox network cable program "Red Eye," where the host, Greg Gutfeld, lauded the group's work (between 9 and 13 minutes into the clip cited), calling it "brilliant" and "violently obscure."Archived a
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Wayback Machine

Discography

To date the band has released 13 full-length albums. Their first two albums were released and/or distributed by

Subterranean Records Subterranean Records is an independent record label based in San Francisco, California. Founded by Steve Tupper and a then partner, Michael Fox in 1979, it focused on that city's underground punk and industrial music scene. Subterranean and fell ...

. The following five albums were released by Nuf Sed. Since 1995, all of Caroliner's albums have been self-released by

BullsHit ''Bullshit'' (also ''bullshite'' or ''bullcrap'') is a common English expletive which may be shortened to the euphemism ''bull'' or the initialism B.S. In British English, "bollocks" is a comparable expletive. It is mostly a slang term and a ...

. Caroliner's music has also appeared on various 7" singles, EPs, split releases, and compilations. Caroliner's album covers are assembled by hand. Drawings and calligraphy are screen-printed or photocopied onto various materials, which are then glued onto a makeshift record sleeve. Sleeve materials vary (two copies of the same record will seldom be identical), and have included fabric, diaper disposal bags, old record sleeves (spray-painted beyond recognition) and pizza boxes. Studio Albums * (1985) Caroliner Rainbow Hernia Milk Queen - ''"Rear End Hernia Puppet Show"'' (Subterranean Records) * (1990) Caroliner Rainbow Stewed Angel Skins - ''"I'm Armed With Quarts of Blood"'' (Subterranean Records) * (1991) Caroliner Rainbow Open Wound Chorale - ''"Rise of the Common Woodpile"'' (Nuf Sed) * (1992) Caroliner Rainbow Susans and Bruisins - ''"The Cooking Stove Beast"'' (Nuf Sed) * (1992) Caroliner Rainbow Wire Thin Sheep Legs Baking Exhibit - ''"Strike Them Hard - Drag Them to Church"'' (Nuf Sed) * (1992) Caroliner Rainbow Fingers of the Underworld & Their Unbreakable Bones - ''"The Sabre Waving Saracen Wall"'' (Nuf Sed) * (1994) Caroliner Rainbow Scrambled Egg Taken For a Wife - ''"Banknotes, Dreams and Signatures"'' (Nuf Sed) * (1994) Caroliner Rainbow Grace Blocks Used in the Placement of the Personality - ''"Rings on the Awkward Shadow"'' ouble LP(BullsHit) * (1995) Caroliner Rainbow Customary Relaxation of the Shale - ''"Sell Heal Holler"'' (BullsHit) * (1996) Caroliner Singing Bull of The 1800 Memorial Band ''"Our American Heritage, Vol. 1"' ive recordings(BullsHit) * (1998) Caroliner Rainbow Stand Still or Fight Beans and Sunstroke - ''"Lower Intestinal Clocks b/w Gut"'' (7" as a 12") (BullsHit) * (1999) Caroliner -''"Toodoos"'' (BullsHit) * (2003) Caroliner Rainbow Brain Tool Imbued With Rust And Mold - ''"Wine Can't Do It, Wife Won't Do!"'' ouble LP(BullsHit) * (2004) Caroliner - ''"An 1800s Affectuant In Instrumental Revue"'' (BullsHit) * (2005) Caroliner Rainbow Solid Handshake & Loose 2 Pins ''"Transcontinental Pinecone Collector"'' (BullsHit) * (2007) Caroliner Rainbow Snake Tailed Waxwalker / Caroliner Rainbow Cannon And Church Mister ''"Smoke Tour For Lunation" (7"as a 12"/Woodpatty Chickenclimber)'' (BullsHit) 7" Singles * (1993) Caroliner - "Bead Trail to Jardunne" b/w "The Cooking Stove Beast" (Nuf Sed) * (1993) Caroliner - "Legs Go, Mind Goes, Lungs Go" b/w "The Ballad of Hamdrags" (live) / River Wearing Children Limbs" (instrumental) (Vertical Records) * (1994) (split) Caroliner Rainbow Tongue On The Fingermill of the Paste Demon - "Wrap Your Rattler, Bring Your Coat" or "The Bringing of Electricity to Monclova County" b/w Eeyore Ass Guzzler (a.k.a. Eeyore Power Tool) - "Broken Fence of the Battered and Buried" * (1995)) (split) Caroliner /

Culturcide Culturcide was an American, Houston-based experimental punk band, active from 1980 to 1990 and from 1993 to the present day. They were notorious for their 1986 album ''Tacky Souvenirs of Pre-Revolutionary America'', which earned the band a cult f ...

( Birdman) * (199?) (split) Caroliner Rainbow Gumcuppers - "Fixing and Mixing Cracked Skulls" b/w Commode Minstrels in Bullface - "Theme From the Destruction of the Turd Man" (P Tapes)

External links

Official MySpace site

* ttp://www.mattendahl.com/caroliner/caroliner.html Database of Caroliner lyrics and images
NYTimes - Show Review by Alex Ross

References

{{Authority control American experimental musical groups American industrial music groups American noise rock music groups Musical groups from San Francisco