Listen to WE CARRIED THE BOAT
We Carried The Boat want your attention. If their unusual name doesn’t catch it, then their clever lyrics might. And if their unique story- an English dude and a Vietnamese dude making music in Japan- doesn’t get it, then their diverse music definitely will.
The Tokyo-based two-piece play livewire post-hardcore, influenced as much by sci-fi movies and Zelda as by Glassjaw. And fate might have brought them together.
Kyle on vocals and Minh, taking care of most of the instruments, formed when they were paired up at university. “By some crazy coincidence we became each other’s first roommates,” says Minh. “We had similar taste in classic heavy (music), and also shared a lot of obscure favourites too. We had both previously played a little in bands in our respective home countries, and it all kind of just flourished from there”
The duo’s shared, varied taste (“Anything from Avenged Sevenfold to Tiësto”) explains some of the weirder and more wonderful moments in the handful of songs they’ve released so far. “We like so much diverse music that we always want to throw in something new, like a synthwave inspired bridge or a noisecore influenced pre-chorus. We are aware we are doing it, so there is a kind of intention, but on the flipside, we can’t really help ourselves!”
Despite, or perhaps because of the times we find ourselves in, We Carried The Boat also can’t help thinking positively. Kind of. “The intention (with our lyrics) is to paint a beautiful picture where the world is ending but somehow everyone is blissfully content,” says Minh. “In our track ‘Leviathan’, we are listening to someone tell the last moments of their life, albeit in the form of a metaphor where a ship sails out upon stormy seas never to return. The speaker reminisces of their life and has words for those who will eventually follow in their footsteps. There isn’t necessarily a message of hope but there is reverence for the beauty of a life bravely lived.”
The duo’s own future looks bright too. “We have a few tracks in the works, one of which will actually be released on November 6th. We’re trying to get in a routine of releasing a single every other month. I think rather than (an album), we’ll take the approach of doing… single releases. That way we can be more active, learn, and evolve our own sound more rapidly”
For fans of Glassjaw, Thursday, and good vibes.