Cancel / Sing, by Karate

Cancel / Sing

by Karate

supported by

more...

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$2 USD

	1.	Cancel 11:11		buy track
	2.	Sing 14:56		buy track

about

Karate emerged as part of an independent rock community that existed outside of the established routines of music established by corporate interests. It was a world apart, with its own language, touring circuit, and media ecosystem. Within that ecosystem, with all its clashing sounds and rigid rules on what notes to play and things to imbibe and labels to work with or ignore, Karate were a band distinct, made more so with each subsequent album plied with twisting guitars, sparse yet complicated rhythms, and elusive melodies that nevertheless managed to spellbind. They entered the 2000s new millennium with fourfour LPsalbums and a cache of seven-inches, a rich document of a band whose evolution sounded constantly in flux from the gnarliest notes of their lo-fi basement demo to the quiet incandescence of their slowcore jazz breaks of the present. They made albums that felt like worlds unto themselves, the minutes immersive and the space between notes porous enough to suggest that those set-in-stone recordings could change with the right mood lighting and stereo system. Karate evoked that sensibility on both songs that make up their 2002 EP, “Cancel” b/w “Sing.”

Both songs are surveys of Karate’s musical progression played out in enough stylistic transitions to fill out an album. They’re opuses, too, not just for their length—the languid “Cancel” clocking in at just a little past 11 minutes, the grandiose “Sing” just a hair under 15 minutes—but for the trio’s exacting precision with every dynamic subtlety, which they pull off with an edge-of-your-seat thrall that suggests the next note may surprise everyone involved. “Cancel” spotlights the band’s preeminent grasp of hushed cadences, as Karate ratchets the intensity of the song’s serene mood at an almost imperceptible clip; the shift makes slowcore singles feel breakneck, and the noisy denouement ties together the band’s jazz proclivities with its post-hardcore beginnings. The epic “Sing” picks up on the cacophonous closing of its preceding track as Karate spins the seemingly shapeless material into a discombobulating jam before snapping into shape with a magnetic melody, the beginning of several major shifts that resemble chapters in a novel as much as they do movements in a song. A syncopated rhythm pumps up a tense guitar riff, which dips down into an unhurried passage animated by an elastic, humid guitar solo that betrays hints of possible paths ahead. An enthralling closer, “Sing” exudes a boundless sense of energy of a band that’s just starting and has everything in the right place. Then again, Karate always played with a purposefulness that could make an ardent fan feel renewed.

credits

released June 30, 2021

license

about

Karate Boston, Massachusetts

shows

Aug 18

Cine Joia

São Paulo, Brazil
Dec 16

The Fleece

Bristol, UK
Dec 17

Rescue Rooms

Nottingham, UK
Dec 18

King Tuts Wah Wah Hut

Glasgow, UK
Dec 19

Brudenell Social Club

Leeds, UK
Dec 20

The Garage

London, UK

contact / help

Contact Karate

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Karate, you may also like:

Coriky
by Coriky

supported by 21 fans who also own “Cancel / Sing”

A fantastic album. I can see why they didn't continue under the name The Evens, as it's a different sound with the bass added. Coriky is the Evens + Joe Lally from Fugazi on bass. If you can imagine The Evens with a slightly more funky, aggressive sound like Fugazi... that's what you get! And there's no way that can ever go wrong. What a great debut album!! smiledozer
go to album
HEY WHAT
by Low

supported by 19 fans who also own “Cancel / Sing”

Mimi was so unbelievably amazing. More is a perfect track in a flawless album. ollie gn
go to album
2018
by Mogwai

supported by 19 fans who also own “Cancel / Sing”

A group that I know only too well, I’ve been with them for nearly 30 years; from their Glaswegian basement origins to their current status as Arena band. My enthusiasm for their later output may have tempered somewhat as the mighty ‘Gwai evolved their sound to avoid pigeonholing, but there is nothing better than when they lay waste to a venue via the sheer euphoria of ‘Helicon 1’. They’re still devastating live and, after all those years, THE authority in Instrumental Rock music. Logen Ninefingers
go to album
Silhouette Machine
by Flooding

Kansas City trio Flooding draw out the more mystical qualities of slowcore and noise rock for a heavy sound that's less stony than doom. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 26, 2023
go to album
Print Selections
by bondo

From L.A. comes the latest from post-rock outfit bondo, with tendrils of spindly guitar snaking through arid percussion. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 4, 2023
go to album
Any Information
by E

Thalia Zedek (Come), Jason Sanford (Neptune), & Gavin McCarthy (Karate) make urgent indie rock with smart hooks and unflinching perspective. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 26, 2022
go to album
Inlet
by Hum

supported by 19 fans who also own “Cancel / Sing”

Sludge, Shoegaze, Atmospheric, Heavy Metal, Alt-metal, you name it. This album has it all, and it is perfect. It came out during a rough time period of my life and others lives too. It's been the soundtrack for all of my pain. Thank you Hum tawper
go to album