Labels: Eat A Book
Review by: Andy Malcolm
These Kiwis are clearly in the thrall of bands like Empire! Empire!, Mineral and American Football. Or Maya Shore? Especially in the vocals. They play super twinkly indiemo, mid-length to long songs with lovely soft vocals and gentle, pretty guitar work, ready for the autumn, though this came out a bit of a while ago, sorry to all involved. There are no surprises here, the songs meander and glide effortlessly, I can’t help but love this sound when it’s not over noodly and Coate understand that sounding pretty is a whole lot more interesting than being a guitar wizard. Very infrequently the songs get louder and more bombastic, but mostly this is at the softer end of the spectrum. They break things up with the interesting “Going Away to Collage”, with spoken vocals, it works great.
The production on this tape is a little lacking, this kind of music does sound better with a warm production rather than a DIY one, and it’s a bit one paced and possibly over long, but that doesn’t detract from what is essentially a rather pleasing collection of MUSIC FOR THE FALL. Check it out if you dig boys in sweaters staring at the floor. That’s probably what Coate do.