I often struggle to find the words to describe the music of the last two decades (mostly in the U.S. that is). The 90′s were defined by Nirvana and Pearl Jam, enter grunge. The 80′s, regrettably, were the nation’s awkward years of bad hair bands, though a few hidden punk gems. The 70′s, of what people can remember if they weren’t all high on something, were maybe the psychedelic rock days – Doc Ellis, anyone? The 60′s – Hippies. The 50′s came to life with the formal introduction of rock and roll. This is all mainstream of course.
However, I’ve yet to know what the last decade’s musical footprint was and what is still to come. The more and more I listen to music these days, I’m beginning to think that perhaps these years are the Revisionist years – the years where we reflect on the music of the past and build upon it to reinvent a new sound. Perhaps we are a lazy generation, but some of the music is still damn good. Some damn good examples – She & Him, April Smith and the Great Picture Show, Tennis, and now we can add The Coasts to that list.
While that was a very long intro, I actually have very little information about The Coasts. This duo – Eric Mount and Ike Peters – apparently split their time in Little Rock, AR and Lebanon, OH. After meeting in college, the two became close friends and then began jamming together. Their sound is described as Rock N Roll on their Facebook page. Nothing frilly like “Grunge Pop,” “Indie Rock,” “Retro Rock” or whatever. It’s classic Rock N Roll, and the tracks are best described as infectious jam sessions.
They slow things down a bit with their song “John Lennon” which is a beautifully written, humble autobiography with endearing harmonies, charming horn accompaniments, and sweet piano key strokes.
As they sing in “John Lennon” -
“It’s not likely I’ll get famous
but if I do then
I’ll have to face it
I’m not John Lennon
I’m just a guy with songs”
They might not be John Lennon, but something tells me Lennon would be digging The Coasts. If you buy The Coasts album on their Bandcamp page, a portion of their record sales will go towards Hope For Haiti’s Children). It’s $5, what are you doing still reading this? Go buy it!
Connect with The Coasts – Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp | Soundcloud
