The reunion (The Carringtons)
The Quebec-based band The Carringtons are back with a fast-paced, hard-hitting album, The Reunion, which features, almost without pause, ten short tracks (often 2 to 3 minutes at most), where their punk rock flows freely, fueled by a round, driving bassline, hypnotic yet sharp guitar riffs, uncompromising drums, and unifying choruses, all delivered with a vocal style that at times brings to mind a certain Robert Smith (“Unbound,” “Isolation”).
The quartet has been making its anger heard across the Atlantic for twelve years, but The Reunion marks a new direction, moving away from excessive distortion and incorporating a touch of electronica here and there, giving the album a sound accessible to a wider audience and the band a decidedly more rock-oriented approach, bringing it closer to bands like The Strokes (“Emptiness” or “Embers”), while retaining punk’s mocking edge (“Hope”) and its performances tailor-made for the live stage (“Trust,” “Romance”). France (and its Benelux neighbors) were fortunate enough to host them for a few shows in 2026.
It must be acknowledged that this album flies by at breakneck speed and leaves listeners wanting more, for those who know how to appreciate it, behind this new sound so well represented by the track “Noise,” which closes the album. This is not a betrayal, but rather the very embodiment of a post-punk band that has successfully evolved and, as is often the case in Quebec, manages to bring an unexpected perspective to its career (they’re no strangers to grand visions in these wild lands), placing the band and this very enjoyable new album squarely in the tradition of its illustrious predecessors, among whom we recall, in the ’90s, the Secrétaires volantes, or, more recently, the Sexareenos. Ben Fortier, Joey Savard, Alex Charron, and Dave Chamberland are turning a new page together and finding a wonderful space for expression opening up before them, one that, for now, doesn’t seem to have taken away any of their wit or their famous songwriting talent.
The album The Reunion was recorded and mixed by Adrian Popovich (American Lips) at Mountain City Studios (Montreal), which partly explains the tracks’ more polished sound. There will always be naysayers, and fortunately, that’s exactly what we hope for them: a new audience coming to listen to them, thanks to this work, and thereby discovering a whole swath of punk and post-punk culture they would undoubtedly never have encountered on their own. We call these bands, capable of bridging generations, ambassadors. The Carringtons are likely among them, and The Reunion is a fine standard under which we invite you all to gather in large numbers.
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