Nowadays Merseyside bands have a tendency to revive the psychedelic noises from the 1960's so it's somewhat refreshing for a duo such as Former Miss America to buck the trend. If one could pinpoint their origins then it would probably lead to Bristol for the singer/musician Anthony Carter and his crew operate in an area of cool atmospherics and emotive songwriting. Without pushing the boundaries of music further, 'Carnivalism' is a carefully constructed album of leftfield pop songs usually backed up by inobtrusive electronic music. 'Kid Gloves' and 'Fear Of The Dark' typify the record well, with studied trip-hop-like backdrops and some careful, soulful singing from Carter. 'Declining Value Of Letters' and 'Norwegian Wouldn't' err towards the over-polished but 'End Of The Girl' is strangely reminiscent of mid-90s funkers New FADS in ballad mode. With a few more killer melodies this could have been quite something yet it's still idiosyncratic enough to merit repeated airings.