I Swear It's ...

Should be famous. I was first turned onto Caroline Rose’s 2018 album Loner by some taste-making blogs I read. Judging a few songs leaked before the thing was even released, they were already calling the LP one of the year’s best. I was intrigued, and listened to what I could, including Rose’s debut from a few years prior. Hooked immediately, I was a fan by the time Loner finally came out in full, and only fell harder once I heard its deeper tracks. I knew nothing about this talented artist except for her recordings and a handful of videos featuring her dark and self-deprecating sense of humor, and I was NOT prepared for her live show. She’s a fucking nut, and her band’s a bunch of nuts. That’s a compliment. There’s nothing worse than a boring rock show, and hers was as far from boring as one could hope for. Caroline jumps around between guitar, keyboards and lead vocal duties; she sweats through her headband like LeBron James; she chugs beers mid-song for a chance to belch into the mic; and somehow it all comes across as totally charming. It helped that this show was at the thimble-sized Larimer Lounge (a Denver landmark I had never had the pleasure of experiencing before this night): when the band members engaged in girl/girl/boy/boy tongue kisses and swapped stories about sex on your period and lept from behind their instruments for an on-stage pig pile (all of those things happened) you were literally right in there with them. The songs, outstanding on record, were more muscular live, more frantic and urgent, like a punk show but somehow also totally earnest, played not for laughs but like Rose’s life depended on it. On the weight of the stellar Loner alone, this artist should be playing on every radio station and every late night talk show. And one more thing: her openers on this tour, Cardioid, were also incredible. I can’t wait to see what both of these bands do next. Setlist