THE CARIBBEAN
HISTORY'S FIRST KNOW-IT-ALL

TOM24 | released: 18/02/2003 | CD
  via Anost (Europe)


01 Oahu Sugar Strike
02 Bulbs & Switches
03 The Requirements
04 Officer Garvey
05 In-House
06 Fresh Out of Travel Agent School
07 History's First Know-It-All
08 Trick Photography
09 Annunciator Zone
10 Perish the Thought
11 Check Kiting
12 The Coward's Approach

The Caribbean is a 4 piece band from Washington DC (Matthew Byars, Don Campbell, Tony Dennison und Michael Kentoff). "History's First Know-It-All" was recorded at Inner Ear Studios and produced by Chad Clark with a heart grown up in a Dischord environment.

Tomlab presents this newcomer in collaboration with Endearing Records (CA) - the same mighty Canadian pop tastemaker who released the Caribbean's 2001 missive, "Verse By Verse", and we're thrilled to add another wrinkle in this beautiful relationship.

The contrast between Endearing's concise pop stance and Tomlab's restless exploration is a good launching point for describing "History's First Know-It-All" to strangers (or so we flatter ourselves). To oversimplify: The Caribbean represents the experimental edge of Endearing and the melodic pop side of Tomlab. Every song on the record is thought of, by us anyway, as having huge mega-hit potential on worlds yet unvisited (as soon as those worlds have radio stations, charts & playlists).

Eremite-Soul with the ethereal breath of Brian Eno paired with Elliot Smith paired with Brian Wilson and god-knows-who-else-referenced-in-here.... Funky, folky, lofi-hifi-Indiepop that is surprisingly close to the famous album by The Books in the way it makes the conventional guitar sound unfamiliar and new. As if someone was secretly changing the order of the Books on your shelf while you have been away and you just feel that something is different...