The world needs something new. It always does and it always
will. There are a lot of rock bands throughout history who follow the simple
guitar-bass-drums-vocals approach. This approach is by no means a tired
approach (look at the greatest bands in history for example), however such is
not the formula for Toronto rock outfit In
My Coma and their debut album Magnets
& Miracles, released in August of 2011.
It
doesn’t even take five seconds in to opening track Friendly Fire to know that something is special about this album.
The song goes right in to a keyboard riff that will either make its listener
think that they are back in the 80’s, or that they are traveling through space.
Whichever it may be, they’ll be sold by the time they hear vocalist Jasper James start singing with his
eerie yet comforting voice. Kind of sounding like Gavin Rossdale minus the
Eddie Vedder tone. After that, its listener will be hooked and along for the
ride.
Along for the ride with Jasper
(who also plays guitar and keyboard/synthesizer) are drummer Mike Paterson, whose
out-of-the-ordinary drum patterns practically make the album progressive, and
bassist LauraDoll, beautiful but
dangerous like Donita Sparks (certain
stage antics aside) and Courtney Love. But
if you were to ever meet her you’d never be able to tell. And that's all, there
are only three members. Listen to the album and you’ll be in disbelief over
that figure.
Much like Rush and
Muse (to name a few) before them,
these three musicians know how to fill your speakers with sound, more so than
many five piece bands out there. That criterion is followed thoroughly throughout
this album. After Friendly Fire
follows a stream of spaced out, slow and spooky, yet all too catchy songs. Lined Up Locked Away competes with
any alt rock tune being belted out by the biggest rock acts of today, and I
dare you to not sing along with Losing Sleep’s chorus...after you learn the lyrics of course. Then comes Hit Them Down Kid, one of the hardest
songs on the album, and definitely the best drum work Mike displays.
Then you’re back on the journey again. Following the format
of the albums first few tracks, Trip
Denes and Voices give the album
a feeling like the engines of your spaceship are starting again, only this time
you’re home bound. Then come the two most beautiful songs on the album. Dreamers successfully makes the
listener think the album was in fact all just one completely awesome dream. My Friend is a very personal and heartfelt
memoir by Jasper saying goodbye to a friend. At the same time, it makes for an
effecting goodbye to its listeners.
What makes the album so good is how it differs from every
modern album being released. It can be found on iTunes, or on their website. Better yet, if
you live in Ontario, try to catch them live. They’ll be selling the CD there
and would be more than happy to sign it and have a few words.
ALBUM HIGHLIGHT
“Homesick” – This track best sums up the
album. Being one of the heaviest tracks on the album it gives you a sense of how
hard they can rock. At the same time, it has enough of the bands edge that lets
listeners know there is something definitely different about this band. And I
can’t forget to mention the killer chorus that will have you chanting “HEY!”
FINAL RATING
8 (Out of 10)
Track List:
1.
|
"Friendly
Fire"
|
3:5
|
2.
|
"Lined
Up Locked Away"
|
3:4
|
3.
|
"Losing
Sleep"
|
5:05
|
4.
|
"Hit
Them Down Kid"
|
4:27
|
5.
|
"One
More Black Hole"
|
1:23
|
6.
|
"Lost"
|
4:34
|
7.
|
"Believe
Me"
|
2:46
|
8.
|
"Magnets
& Miracles"
|
0:12
|
9.
|
"Homesick"
|
4:4
|
10.
|
"Crazy
World"
|
3:36
|
11.
|
"Trip
Denes"
|
3:5
|
12.
|
"Voices"
|
4:51
|
13.
|
"Dreamers"
|
3:40
|
14.
|
"My
Friend"
|
4:14
|
15.
|
"Dying
Star "
|
1:12
|
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