There’s no Fool Like an Old Fool

No Fool Like An Old Fool is the sophomore LP from Austin via Alabama musician, Caroline Sallee, aka Caroline Says. Moving beyond the surf-folk foundations of her debut, on No Fool… Sallee loosens her earthly tether, allowing her songs to float to ever higher altitudes on clouds of loops, immaculate melodies, and hypnotic harmonies, as she sings about aging, the daily grind, and hometown stymie. The first few notes of the Daniel Rossen-esque opener First Song dutifully establish the surreal and slightly tragic tone of longing maintained throughout the album. The curiously upturning melodies ride out on a rich ambient texture before Sweet Home Alabama cuts the fog with a crackling 60’s soul loop that’s charming and catchy enough to induce a cathartic laugh from the listener. The brightness fades with the frosty and propulsive A Good Thief Steals Clean, which features lyrics inspired by the 1971 film Panic in Needle Park, and the idea of being in love with a heroin addict. “I tend to write from the perspectives of characters in dark situations, even though my songs may sound bright,” Sallee notes of her alluring juxtaposition of sunny production and grim lyrics. She employs this dynamic again on Rip Off, a frenetically percussive song with lyrics inspired by an NPR story about a young Iraqi man who was killed in an ISIS bombing just before moving to NYC to become a professional dancer. Inspired by Terrence Malick’s Badlands and Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, the song Black Hole features multi-voice harmonies sung from the perspective of 50’s spree killer Charles Starkweather. No Fool Like An Old Fool is a fine soundtrack for this kind of liminal state, honest in its weariness, glad to be done with the day, carrying itself into tomorrow with a bleary-eyed sense of wonder and hope for the future. A tireless worker, and a wellspring of creativity, whatever Caroline Says, we will be listening. LP+ – Limited Two-Toned Sky and Ocean Coloured Vinyl with Download. LP – Black Vinyl with Download.