The accompanying vid for Carb on Carb’s latest emo single Man Says is intriguing, and yet I feel like I’ve seen it, and lived it, a few times before. An old dog made to try various hats, a bedroom filled with messy New Zealand stationary (the Warwick A5 makes an appearance), gluggy nail polish and Vans checked wristbands. Beyond the bright pink WordArt there was an underlying sadness – it felt like a Sticky TV makeover gone wrong.

Carb on Carb are making age-appropriate songs for themselves and their peer group, but their fan base extends far beyond just the teens in Auckland. Their latest single discusses the flatness, loneliness and extensive boredom teens face while growing up, and the lengths they’ll go to in order to change things up for a while.

There’s a real sadness in this song that shouldn’t be ignored, however cute the video is. If Carb on Carb are saying that their friends and other school kids they know are willing to change themselves to such an extent to pass time – surely this shouldn’t be ignored? We’ve all been teenagers (and we’ve all accidentally dyed our hair the wrong colour) but have we all prayed our accent would go away? Or our skin colour, sexuality or gender would change? It no longer sounds like teens acting out for the sake of acting out.

So, what can we learn from Man Says? Other than that, a dog looks adorable in pink sunnies and a sweatband, we have a lot of work to do with Kiwi youth. If the Auckland dream is to wait patiently until you leave high school, change your appearance and work in a vintage store, then our young people are not aiming high enough. Somewhere along the way we are letting them down, and perhaps, with teenage insight from Carb on Carb we’ll know where best to project that help. For now, enjoy the video for Man Says and have a bit of a jump around – sometimes a good dance makes all the difference.

• 1
  Outside In
• 2
  Horror Story
• 3
  Fraser Ross
• 4
  Head Like A Hole
• 5
  Fur Patrol
• 6
  Michelle Rounds
• 7
  L.A.B.
• 8
  The Boondocks
• 9
  Late to Chelsea
• 10
  Us As Robots

• 
  Geoff Ong @ Cassette Nine, Auckland - 05/10/2024
• 
  Valere @ Cassette Nine, Auckland - 05/10/2024
• 
  Hannah Everingham @ Wunderbar, Lyttelton - 4/10/2024
• 
  Napoleon Baby @ Last Place, Hamilton - 04/10/2024

• 1
  DIE WITH A SMILE
  Lady Gaga And Bruno Mars
• 2
  TASTE
  Sabrina Carpenter
• 3
  BIRDS OF A FEATHER
  Billie Eilish
• 4
  A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
  Shaboozey
• 5
  ESPRESSO
  Sabrina Carpenter
• 6
  LOSE CONTROL
  Teddy Swims
• 7
  BEAUTIFUL THINGS
  Benson Boone
• 8
  TOO SWEET
  Hozier
• 9
  GOOD LUCK, BABE!
  Chappell Roan
• 10
  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
  Sabrina Carpenter

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