KaiserCartel’s new album “Secret Transit” is exactly what Brooklyn has been working to produce for the last ten years. Thing is, the more you know about Brooklyn, the more you know that this has nothing to do with New York City.
Something about the borough has attracted an aesthetic – and in the case of this album – a sound that didn’t come from the City, but rather from an influx of this nation’s twenty-somethings comfortable enough with their disillusionment to pass up the all-in surety of Entourage for the already-out individualism of Thoreau.
It isn’t much a mystery that the album seems just a few steps reengaged in society after a year at Walden. While the pair may be based in Red Hook, the album simply sounds like happened-upon wisdom gained from travels, and unavoidable retrospect brought to focus by contrast.
There isn’t a duo more suited to voice this independent, transplanted being than Courtney Kaiser and Benjamin Cartel. Their sound doesn’t come out of a garage; unassailable musical résumés trail them both.
Last night, at the concert and party to debut their new album, the key word was “serious”, much as it was joked about each time presentation of which was tripped over. Courtney and Benjamin wore black, and played the songs with the care one would need to get their finer points across.
As the band began the show with “Riverboat Dream”, a problem with Courtney’s amplifier left each strum buzzing. Sorted out by the time she was to start singing, the room quickly forgot that a thing could go wrong. Her voice firmly established the melody, came into a minor chord, and Benjamin joined in on drums and in harmony. They truly sound as if they’ve sung together for fifteen years.
The timing of the album would seem unlikely. Produced by their own label with the funding of fans via PledgeMusic, one wouldn’t guess 2009-2010 a likely time to reach out on your own and place your best ideas on record without the support of a label. The second song of the evening, “Brave Enough”, seemed a happy answer to whether it was the right decision.
“Carroll Street Station” picked up the tempo and the immediate affection of F and G train riders familiar with romance around Smith Street bars. Listening to the album, it’s not expected that the band would be able to sway so effortlessly from light, almost California surfer pop (Carroll Street), to lonely, self-defeating cowboy love, (Minefield) but they do. Kaiser’s voice simply carries, no matter what she’s doing. While typically on guitar, she plays drums on “Minefield”, and never mind the gorgeous alto harmonies, you need to listen to this girl whistle.
The album is a triumph of songwriting mastered, ideas conveyed, and beauty in voice never buried for the sake of noise. Benjamin and Courtney wore black for a reason. They’ve put together a work of art to not be soon forgotten, and the event was for the music and listener, not the musician.
To emphasize the beauty of the music and its interaction with listener, the final song of the evening was unamplified. The pair weaved their way through the crowd in the pub, playing “Memphis”. The simple melody, their flawless harmonies, and a suddenly silent pub interacting just as all three should have.