Introducing…. Carroll

There was a time when Carroll was just your grandmother’s name or an avenue you drove by. But since the autumn of 2011, Carroll has come to describe the combined efforts of four gentlemen from every part of the country who now call Minnesota home. Seattle native Brian Hurlow started performing some of the songs that would become the Needs EP with a guitar and a laptop and caught the ear of Charlie Rudoy- a friend from college and a drummer. Rudoy, originally from New York City, immediately heard what many hear in Hurlow’s songwriting: instantly accessible melody underscored by a deeper layer of melancholy. The two moved into a house on Carroll Avenue together and found a name for their budding project on the street sign on the corner. By the time Philadelphian-turned-Minneapolitan Max Kulicke joined on guitar and Nebraskan Charles McClung on bass, the sounds coming out of the basement on Carroll Avenue were beginning to grab some attention.

Though they are not natives of Minnesota, the members of Carroll have become a mainstay in the Twin Cities music scene. After hearing a demo of their song “Billionaire,” producer Lance Conrad reached out and offered to record the band at his Humans Win! Studios. “Sticks”, the first single released from the sessions at Humans Win!, debuted on Minnesota Public Radio’s The Current and was posted on music blogs from Australia to Spain to the Czech Republic. Obscure Sound described the song as “subdued and rooted in lush shoegaze and jangle-pop production tendencies…this is one of those groups that seamlessly balances nostalgic influences with a contemporary edge. It’s a job well done.” Philly-based blog What’s Protocol? simply stated, “Oh, my. I love everything about this.” Carroll’s debut EP Needs, it out right now, listen to “Billionaire” below

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