Karies

Karies - Parole Grätig
7” - In A Car 002 / Harbinger Sound 156


Apart from being the German word for tooth decay Karies are four serious looking young German gentlemen that Underwood was raving about the last time I saw him. He bunged me this 4 track tour e.p. and said ‘Give it a spin, see what you think’. So I did and it was like um …  er …  okaaaay. Perhaps I need more information. Maybe I could give this China Crisis LP a shove for an hour and investigate. So I found myself watching an hour long Karies set as played in a long thin room, that despite being up for five months now, has managed a measly 300 views and an even measlier seven ‘likes’.

Four blokes, three guitars, plenty of effects and a prayer mat with Joy Division stitched into it. They sure do wear their influences on their sleeves these moody looking Germans. Perhaps I should chuck Neu! into the equation too and Killing Joke and the guitar sound of the Cocteau Twins. So many guitar bands, too much time. Not that I have anything against guitar bands, some of my favourite bands have guitars in them but to stand out as a guitar band in a world of guitar bands you have to have something special, have a sound that is your own and Karies have a sound that is made up of lots of other guitar bands and a drummer who cant help it with the fills. Kill the fucking fills man.

But back to the e.p. which is where I started this an hour or more ago and four tracks that sound a damn sight more punchier than the gig in the long room. It must be the grooves in the record. Grooves versus Youtube? Hifi versus Mac speakers? A one sided fight if ever there was one. ‘Signale’ is my favourite of the four, a rapid bass driven 3.42’s worth of angst with a drop out tinkly cymbal bridge that builds back to its epic climax and with the added European charm of shouty German language vocals you have something you could jump around the room to.

After submitting my senses for an entire evening to the Karies cause [y’see, the things I go through] I find myself coming to the following conclusion; Karies could go one of two ways, they could either be the biggest band in Germany come the back end of 2016 or they could end up with another 100 hits on that Youtube vid. The gap between success and everlasting obscurity cannot be measured by a few hundred words in a review like this. 301 views. 


Harbinger Sound