COEDS
Thrill Me!
New Granada
In primitive pre-internet days, record nerds had to rely on all sorts of arbitrary rules. Here was one that never steered me wrong: If a soul or R&B album had a song about chicken or any other Southern delicacy, it was usually a keeper. Likewise, if a punk/garage album had a song about a horror movie, it was worth a listen.
Savannah, Georgia’s COEDS took this made-up rule to heart, placing”Night of the Creeps” as the third song on Thrill Me!, the band’s first full-length album. You know, Night of the Creeps? “The good news is your dates are here. The bad news is they’re dead?”
Well, connoisseurs of fine cinema know it. And connoisseurs of tuneful garage punk will have a new favorite album in Thrill Me!, a 13 track album full of hooky, danceable tunes, recalling the best of early pop-punk like the Vibrators or Rezillos.
Anna Chandler and Philip Reynolds trade guitar duties and vocals on a set of tunes that feature rockers like “Night of the Creeps,” “Push,” or the surf-inspired “Do the Beast Stomp,” to ballads like “Close Up, Make Up.” At their best, COEDS are reminiscent of the best basic rock and roll, music designed for dancing and movement, rather than thinkin.’ Chandler has a great vocal range and can effectively go from a croon in “Close Up, Make Up” to scream in “Maggot Brain.” The rhythm section of Jeremiah Stuard and Donald Moats keep things simple and driving – this band must be something to see live.
There’s something so liberating and fun about simple, propulsive pop nuggets full of swagger and fun. COEDS debut full-length shows that they know this, as well as the wisdom of dropping an ’80s horror movie reference for all the record nerds out there.
