Caroline LIVE at Liverpool Arts Club: Boundary-pushing postrock

Words: Gethin Marshall

Photography: Gethin Marshall & Raya Dewsnap

The band is spread out in a semi-circle on the stage before me. Rather than facing the

crowd, the eight members of London post/folk rock outfit Caroline face each other,

working together in almost cult-like synchronism. Twin violins battle on opposite sides of

the stage, with the accompaniment of guitars both electric and acoustic falling in and out

of time and the breathy notes of a saxophone joining the amalgamation of strange

harmonies, the undercurrents of the drums tying everything together with slow, eddying

beats. As the performance unfolds, I think back to how I ended up in this place at this

time.

tap in

That’s the message I received around a month before from a friend, along with a link.

On following the link, I found myself on a page for a band called Caroline- this was not a

band I had heard of previously, but my interest was caught immediately. Scrolling down,

I discovered the name of their first album: Caroline. Fair enough, I thought, many bands

have self titled releases, this isn’t unusual. Let’s have a look at the second album.

Caroline 2. Hmm. The only feature on this album? Caroline Polachek. Uhh... okay.

Still, my friend- a talented musician in her own right, with releases under the name Sex Alcove on all platforms- had never let me down with her music recommendations before, and so I bit the bullet and hit play on Total Euphoria, the opening track on 2025’s Caroline 2. Slowly, a wave of polytemporal guitars washed through my headphones. There was something special here, though I was not yet sure what it was. Thankfully, the reason my friend had sent me this link in the first place was that she and two other friends had already bought tickets for their performance in Liverpool, and my decision to join them was instant.

Now I return to the scene before me. This performance comes after an opening consisting of the undulating soundscapes of Zurkas Tepla- a set we admittedly missed the majority of due to a wayward Spoons excursion- and we’ve managed to make it to a very central spot in the rapt, statue-like crowd. The venue itself- the intimate Liverpool Arts Club- is filled with smoky blue and purple light. The performance had begun wordlessly, instead moving immediately into the first long, intricate composition. The crowd stays totally silent for the duration of the piece, before breaking into fervent applause and cheers as soon as the final note is played. By contrast, the band holds themselves with humility, either adjusting tunings, changing instruments or just waiting around for the next song; without a traditional singer or front for the band, a wholly different dynamic is created onstage to a normal four- or five-piece rock band.

As the show continues, the band begins to warm up a little to the crowd, occasionally making comments between songs; it is through this that we discover that it’s their first time playing in Liverpool “unless you count Birkenhead?”- a question that is hastily rescinded after a chorus of loud boos and dissent. Later on in the show, there is a longer than usual pause after another of their sweeping, dense songs, and the band splits in two across the stage. Soon, an explanation is given- Coldplay cover, the sixth track on Caroline 2 (and not an actual Coldplay cover, as is clarified quickly) consists of a single recording of two songs being played in different locations in a house, with the microphone moving in between the two rooms. To perform this live, the performers on the left side of the stage begin a sparse but joyful composition that unifies into a single, repeating refrain of “When you’d like.” Slowly, the microphone is brought across the stage to the other group, who have by now begun to play a slower, more introspective track; as the focus settles on this side of the performance, a feeling of melancholia rises, though the echoes of the first song are still repeating in the background of the soundscape. It is unlike anything I’ve seen before in a live performance. After this, the songs continue onwards, primarily acoustic masterpieces with unique sprinklings of autotune and electronic static adding texture to the auditory canvas.

After the concert finally comes to a close, I step out into the Merseyside rain. Though I had not been wholly convinced by Caroline on my initial introduction to the band, it is fair to say I am listening now. As innovative as this band is within the confines of their two studio albums, their live performance takes things to a new level of ethereal, melancholic and dissonant brilliance. After this performance, they will go on to play at Norwich, Cambridge, Brighton and London, before kicking off a tour of the USA in May this year. Caroline is truly a band for the future, and will certainly be at the forefront of contemporary experimental British music moving forward. I, for one, can’t wait for their next album, though I’ve got a funny feeling I know what it’ll be called.