Our second retrospecticus that will run all week is one of my favourite discoveries of the past few years, and whose sophomore album I have been highly anticipating for a while now. So in preparation for that, let's go back to a time when the Kaiser Chiefs were Parva, Posh had no Becks, Backstreet Boys ruled the world and Maroon 5 were just a twinkle in the eye of Kara's Flowers. Indeed the four members of Kara's Flowers – Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, Micky Madden and Ryan Dusick – were the nucleus that would create one of the most successful pop rock acts of the new millennium. Friends since high school the boys put together a sound that was heavy on the beatles influence yet was missing the soul infusion that dictated their later success. A debut album Fourth World was preceeded by a single called Soap Disco which was slightly punk pop yet still showcased the early stages of Adam's ability to create something radio friendly and perky. His voice is completely different here to how it sounds on Maroon 5 records, but fits well with the type of music the Flowers were putting out. Oliver is extremely Beatles-esque, while My Ocean Blue may well be our first introduction to Jane with the line "me and my darling Jane". Again it gives hints of what is to come with Maroon 5 and is a well produced and beautifully crafted pop song. Still for people tuning into this disc expecting Songs About Jane the early years, you may well be disappointed. If you're looking for well crafted jerky pop, then come on in! Tomorrow we'll see how they developed with the Stagg Street recordings…
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LINK: Buy Kara's Flower's Fourth World CD
