CARTALK
PASS LIKE POLLEN (LAME-O RECORDS)
Chuck Moore's debut as Cartalk, Pass Like Pollen, is an album about holding on to what you've had and have - charting an emotional path for moving forward, while understanding the importance of looking back.
Merging the loud, grungy guitars of classic indie rock and emo with country-esque songwriting and Moore's undeniably affecting punch of a voice, Pass Like Pollen hits you hard immediately and leaves a beautiful mark.
Pass Like Pollen arrives on the heels of the buzz-building sensation singles "Noonday Devil" and "Wrestling," the latter of which was picked up by KEXP and resulted in a month-long residency earlier this year at the beloved and now-defunct L.A.
music venue The Satellite. Thematically, Pass Like Pollen is a breakup album - a rumination on peering inward, taking stock in what you find and learning to embrace what you have in spite of so much loss.
These complicated emotions are accompanied by a kaleidoscopic array of sounds rooted in rock and country music, every sonic shade complimenting the intricacies of Moore's expressive lyricism; whether they're cranking up the guitars on slow-burning racers like "Noonday Devil" or zooming in to close-mic'd effect on the intimate "Something or Nothing," every single emotive beat on Pass Like Pollen rings true.