Thursday, November 14, 2013

Band Review: Coming


I love doing band reviews, but have been a bit frustrated with myself lately in how often I apologize in the review, or at least feel like I should apologize, for not knowing enough to do a better job. I am in the same boat here.
Coming opened up the AFI show, but by the time I got to the venue they were already done. I felt bad about that, so I went to their merch table and although I originally only intended to buy the cassette, they had a deal for getting that and the vinyl. I am not able to play it, but both had download codes, so I think I have their entire discography on my computer now, and that is pretty much all I have to go on.
Coming just doesn't seem to have much of a web presence. The download site is for multiple bands, and a search found one site that appears to run off Tumblr. I did not find any Twitter or Facebook.
And, judging a band solely by their music is pretty reasonable anyway, but I would feel more confident if I had seen them live, and I like being able to refer interested readers to more on the band. You can definitely buy Lonely and Destructure digitally through Bandcamp, so that's a start.
They're worth checking out. There is definitely an aggressive edge to their music, and that includes the vocals, which are at least reminiscent of "screamo", but it feels like there is a greater variety of musical influences. Sometimes that means there is a funky bass line on the intro, like with "Swallow". It doesn't dominate, but there are elements to the guitar sounds in "Pure" and "Thoughts" that reminds me of early rock, like Dick Dale or Link Wray. Then you have "Headcase", which starts with a very basic drum intro and throws in some guitar that feels very unique and modern that I do not know how to describe.
That is just Destructure, but you get a similar mix on Lonely. There are some tracks that seem to have some retro elements without sounding old-fashioned, like "Slip" and "Repeat", and then "Lonely" starts with a basic drum track and becomes something that sounds like nothing else. I feel like "Slip" is reminding me of something I can't put my finger one, but that has some interesting sounds too.
So, as is normal, I feel like I am not saying enough, and can only repeat that they are worth checking out. And I know they would not be to everyone's taste, but still, they are worth checking out.

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