In fact, on their debut EP, no body perfect, released earlier this year, the pair of Nicole Gaffney and James Stuteley showcase a light floating indie-rock packed with restrained melodies, and gorgeous vocals.
Released through independent label Papaiti Records, no body perfect is a fantastic work of guitar pop.
Crossing Stuteley's swift, finessed cymbal-heavy drumming with Gaffney's ethereal delivery and bright cutting guitar lines, there's an almost surreal and dreamy quality to the record.
Stripping back rock to its basic elements, the pop on no body perfect is markedly different from the pair's first project together, the resolutely lo-fi Mammal Airlines, something Stuteley says is largely down to the songwriting of Gaffney.
"Mammal Airlines was essentially Giles Thompson and I making some really noisy, intentionally lo-fi songs when we were hanging out, and Nicole joined to make that into something we could do live. We made it really overdriven and snarly because we liked the sound. Carb on Carb, on the other hand, is a lot more driven by Nicole - her songs are more intricate and careful I guess, not hiding behind waves of fuzz," he says from his Auckland home.
"We're also being a bit more serious in our approach and with Carb on Carb we went to a studio to record drums to get a more defined and basically hi-fi sound."
Since their inception, touring has been at the forefront of Carb on Carb's agenda.
Having already toured the North Island with friends Cool Cult in July, next Saturday the pair will visit Dunedin on their Southern Spring Tour, a city Stuteley recalls as "surreal".
"The first time I toured Dunedin was with my band Body 125 in 2010. I had never been to Dunedin before and it was misty and cold and we drove through the hills to this little bar next to a port that just looked out to a black sea - it felt like the edge of the earth to me at the time, and that's not a bad thing.
"We're just hoping to have fun, to play some music that people can take something valuable from, make friends, see friends, and go places we haven't been."
Although recorded at Albany Street Studios in 2011, Black Sky Hustler's self-titled debut EP will be released at Twelve Below tonight.
TLA, Simple Thieves and Ink Mathematics will support the trio, comprising brothers Dylan and Reuben Pringle and Peter Crisp.
See it, hear it
Carb on Carb "Southern Spring Tour", with support from Males and Two Cartoons, Taste Merchants (Lower Stuart St), September 29.
Doors open 8pm, first band 8.45pm. Tickets $10, or near offer.
Download the debut EP, no body perfect, for free at carboncarb.bandcamp.com Black Sky Hustler EP Release Party, tonight at Twelve Below, $5 entry (2-for-1 entry deal before 10pm). EPs available on the night.
