Words: Bobby Brunner

It had been a while since I had been to a show at A&R Bar, so I thought I would make my way over to check out Coasts; an Indie Pop band from Bristol, England. Personally, going into this show I was a little skeptical on how I was going to actually like their music. The band seems to have an edgy, almost somber vibe that lurks through their search results on Google Images. This almost translates perfectly into their lyrics, which at times can be relatively poetic, and sad. I was pleasantly surprised by this, mostly because musicians that focus on their lyrical efforts seem to grab my attention more than bands that try to flood their sound with distortion and dissonant modulation to attract people to their music. There is also something quite endearing about having my teenage angst about love, and relationships being thrown at me again, so for that, I want to say thank you to Coasts.

Let’s get to the review. Let me just start off by saying that during their whole set, I was trying to place a sound on these guys. It seemed like almost every song reminded me of a band that I used to be into when I was younger. One that I wrote down that seemed to stick with me was Linkin Park, and I’m not sure why this seemed to resonate the most, because a lot of their intros start with a simple drum pattern, or a spacey guitar melody. But man, some of their choruses are actually pretty heavy. It did take them a little bit to get the audience moving, probably because people were distracted by an ambulance that had to be called to the scene to help someone off of the dance floor, but that’s just rock n’ roll. I would say that by their third song into their set, which was called “Modern Love”, the audience seemed to get a good grasp of the energy, and the band was responding well. As soon as Chris Caines, the vocalist for Coasts, announced that they were dedicating a song to those who were at their previous Columbus show, the crowd really seemed to be ready for some mayhem. I found the lyrics of this song to be touching, and honestly thought I was listening to an Alternative Metal band singing their lyrics.

There were a few moments where the band almost seemed lost in their own music, where the drummer may have played a fill maybe a little bit too fast, and the rest of the band needed to catch up. Or when they played “Wolves”, Chris seemed to be a little bit off pitch with the rest of the music. This wasn’t something that was super noticeable unless you were listening to the music with much more focus. Despite their beachy guitar riffs in some of their songs, I feel like these guys could do well if they went a little bit heavier into their sound, and focused their attention on making some powerful music, because at times I felt as if I was trying to be lifted up, when the lyrics of the songs were rather bitter. I did like their poppy melodies, and the harmonies that were created within the 6 piece band of clearly talented musicians. I would like to see them develop a little bit more, and find a part of them that makes them totally distinct from other bands in the genre. I was honored to be able to attend their show here in Columbus, and I look forward to future releases from these guys.