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The up-and-comer heads to St. Paul with local folk fuo
The Caroline Smith and the Goodnight Sleeps are part of what I like to call the Modern Minnemusic Movement—in reality, that's the first time I've ever used that term, but I think it's still appropriate. The MMM has a few distinct branches, like electronica (see: Owl City) and The Replacements' replacements (see: The Melismatics), but Caroline Smith lies squarely in the Americana sector with an organic indie-pop influence.
In the company of Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles (they share a bass player), Chris Koza, A Night in the Box and Roma di Luna, these bands feel like both the future and the past, which is just what roots music should feel like. Harboring a taste for the vintage folk of Minnesota's finest (i.e. Bob Dylan and company), Caroline Smith and the Goodnight Sleeps sojourn musically through dreams of apple-picking (listen to "Birch Trees and Broken Barns") and all things Midwestern. There's something so perfectly alt. country about a banjo and a girlish trill, isn't there?
Caroline Smith belts out her honest lyrics with a sugary soprano in line with Lucy Michelle's purposefully constricted warbles. When paired with the folk-pop melodies created by Smith and the other band members, the resulting sound is sunny and has a certain minimalism that Michelle lacks due to her big backing band. After a smart debut in August 2008 with "Backyard Tent Set," this band no longer fits under the moniker of "the-next-best-thing." Smith has come a long way in a short time—she started recording in her dorm room while she was a freshman at the University of Minnesota—and I'm excited to see what she has on the books for her sophomore album.
While you wait for her next release, you can see this young singer-songwriter live at the Kitty Cat Klub (her old Dinkytown stomping grounds!) this Saturday (Oct. 17, 2009).
