Marc Carroll

Posted in All Wrongs Reversed - reviews on 20/10/2010

ALL WRONGS REVERSED

Mojo

Irish singer - songwriter's classy compendium of lost songs and rarities.

Following last year's acclaimed Ten Of Swords, Marc Carroll returns with the equivalent of a rummage through the attic, selecting demo's, folk standards and cover versions presumably intended to fill the gap while we await his next aural adventure. As ever, his pop sensibility is positively tangible, permeating almost every track and throwing up influences ranging from The Beach Boys, Byrds and Buzzcocks, through more reflective, darker musings.

The affectionate Mr Wilson is a composition made up of Brian Wilson song titles, there's the sprightly demo of radio favourite Crashpad Number, and two surprising Dylan covers, Gates Of Eden and Senor. A mournful version of Patrick Kavanagh's On Raglan Roadcloses the album on a chilling note. Overall, it whets the appetite for another helping of the Dublin bards original material.

Posted in All Wrongs Reversed - reviews on 20/10/2010

ALL WRONGS REVERSED

Uncut Magazine

On the up Irishman offers lost songs and rarities.

Last year's Ten of Swords was one of the finest debuts of recent times, pulling off the enviable feat of lacing together classic English psychadelia and driving power pop without leaving the join.

All Wrongs Reversed, serving as a stopgap until the follow up proper, has the choppy fuzz punk of "Patterns" ; countryish lament "Nobody's Child". It overloads the pop at the expense of the trippy stuff but That said, "Mr Wilson" and his take on "Gates Of Eden" have both earned the thumbs up from Brian and Bob themselves. So who are we to argue?

Posted in All Wrongs Reversed - reviews on 20/10/2010

ALL WRONGS REVERSED

The Irish Times

This compilation follow his previous studio album, the beleaguered but rather brilliant ten of swords and is an equally compelling collection that gathers waifs, strays and runts. Using his bitter sweet template of armour plated pure pop guitars and often bewildering mix of cover versions and Irish heritage (including Dylan's Gates Of Eden & Kavanaghs Raglan Road).

Carroll's more passionate love of the beach boys and sugar is evident on tracks such as don't let them get you down, if, patterns and perhaps a tad too obviously Mr Wilson. If you haven't yet heard Carroll, don't let this gorgeous occasionally frustrating taster pass you by.

Posted in All Wrongs Reversed - reviews on 20/10/2010

ALL WRONGS REVERSED

Channel 4 Teletext

Marc Carroll - All Wrongs Reversed (7/10)

There will be something very wrong indeed if Carroll's `Ten Of Swords` album isn't on the Mercury shortlist. Here's where it all began for him. The first fruits of an album that sat around various record labels trying to work out how to market him. It's a lesson in why the industry's failing.More importantly it's full of gorgeous summer melodies a la Lemonheads.
Start with the better still `Ten Of Swords` but don't wait too long to discover this joy too.

Posted in All Wrongs Reversed - reviews on 20/10/2010

ALL WRONGS REVERSED

Not Lame (US)

'Holy Cow, this is awesome! From the start, yr in for a ride of pure pop pleasure. Song # 1, "Mr. Wilson" is about as perfect of a Posies/Matthew Sweet inspired gem as you'll ever hear, Song #2 "Patterns" is an Sugar influenced ditty in the vein of "If I Could Change Your Mind", Song 3 breaks out the 12 string and the heavenly layered harmonies take you up to the skies, song #4 could have walked off of "Fisherman Blues"(in fact, you'll hear the wafting spirits of Scotland and Ireland on many other tracks as well) and on and on. Check out his debut that we recently carried here, "Ten Of Swords" as it's every bit as great as this one`.

Posted in All Wrongs Reversed - reviews on 20/10/2010

ALL WRONGS REVERSED

Miles Of Music (US)

In the tradition of great pop tunesmiths like The Posies, Matthew Sweet and Teenage Fanclub, Ireland's Marc Carroll crafts thinking man's power pop. With Byrds-ian jangle and Sugar-esque punch, Carroll's odds-and-ends offering, All Wrongs Reversed, comes right on the heels of his debut solo release Ten Of Swords. A couple of Dylan covers ("Gates Of Eden" and "Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power)"), an ode to Brian Wilson ("Mr. Wilson") and an acoustic version of the Ten Of Swords track "Crashpad Number" are a few of the interesting surprises you get here. The biggest surprise, though, is his overall depth as a songwriter and amazing tunefulness that will leave you craving more.

Posted in All Wrongs Reversed - reviews on 20/10/2010

ALL WRONGS REVERSED

Minus Zero

Hot on the heels of the magnificent Ten Of Swords, this excellent 11- track round-up of non-LP songs, B-sides & demos superbly showcase Marc's range & talent. Very highly recommended.

Posted in All Wrongs Reversed - reviews on 20/10/2010

ALL WRONGS REVERSED

Fufkin (US)

Marc Carroll (whose Ten of Swords disc was mentioned in this column only two months ago) has wasted no time in releasing another primo assortment of pop tunes. His latest disc, All Wrongs Reversed, is a strong candidate for Top Ten honors in 2003. The opening track, "Mr. Wilson" (an homage to Brian Wilson), sounds like it could be an Adam Schmitt song. The "acoustic" version of "Crashpad Number" still has chiming 12-string riffs throughout its catchy melody. "Don't Let Them Get You Down" could pass for a mid tempo Teenage Fanclub song, and two of the three final tracks have an infectious Paisley Underground-inspired psych-pop flavor. From start to finish, this is one superb power pop album.

Posted in All Wrongs Reversed - reviews on 20/05/2011

ALL WRONGS REVERSED

Student 123

The Americans do the whole singer-songwriter bloke thing very differently to us. We have people like Tom McRae, Damien Rice and of course David Gray, all of whom make serious, thoughtful, acoustic music. Across the water they have Pete Yorn, Ben Kweller, Ben Harper and Jason Mraz, who make playful, intelligent but entertaining music. Well finally we have one of our own to add to the second list, in the form of Marc Carroll, Irish multi-instrumentalist and possibly genius.

All Wrongs Reversed is his second album, and it sounds like Mr. Carroll made himself a mix tape of his favourites, and then rewrote every song, passing them off as his own. So, we have some Beach Boys to kick off, with his love song to Brian Wilson: Mr Wilson. Then, there's something off REM's Monster album, If, something from Wilco's Mermaid Avenue, Nobody's Child, and the results of a serious Dylan fixation. He doesn't even bother rewriting those though, he just covers them, in this case Gates of Eden and Senor. (The single Crashpad Number has a cover of The times they are a changing as a b-side, in case that wasn't enough.) But there's more to Carroll than mimicry, and to keep things fresh there's the spiky two minute Patterns and Be what you are, both pop-punk gems with guitars well and truly plugged in and harmonies that the likes of Blink-182 would put their pants back on for.

All Wrongs Reversed is packed with immensely listenable and instantly likeable tunesmithery.

Posted in All Wrongs Reversed - reviews on 20/05/2011

ALL WRONGS REVERSED

Torpedo pop

Besides the Brian Wilson tribute-song `Mr Wilson`, the album is also represented with the "cocky-buzz" of Be What You Are and barely two minutes of Patterns, sounding almost like it's been based around the Getting Better middle-eight. The single from his debut solo album Ten Of Swords, Crashpad Number, is a McGuinn-ish jingle-jangle supernova and though it says that the featured version is an acoustic one, it's not, the electric 12-string rings and chimes all over the place, it's just that it's accompanied only with an acoustic guitar, the "tambourine and the man himself". This one's followed, appropriately enough, with the first of the two Dylan covers, Gates Of Eden (there's also Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)), impressing Mr.Bob enough to be posted on his official web site! As the album's title implies, if the career of Marc Carroll hasn't gone the right way before this, All Wrongs Reversed could be the turning point, reversing all the wrongs towards the right way.