Coffinberry
The Spins 7”
Exit Stencil
I guess I now know what Lenny Kravitz has been doing for the last couple of years. He’s been moonlighting as the vocalist for Coffinberry, a band of late 1970’s new wave wanna-be’s. These guys are from Cleveland, which is close to my neck of the woods, and I’ve never heard of them. However, I’ll keep my eyes open for them, only so that I can pelt them with hardened cat feces as they have done to me in the form of this terrible 7”.
I don’t really understand this music. The songs feature the aforementioned Kravitz-esque vocalist, with about a billion times too much whininess in his voice. He manipulates his voice to match the weird guitar notes. The result is something that sounds like he’s trying to squeeze out a log. Yuck!
The band has a undeniable fascination with Gang of Four, as they play their guitars in a manner of weird syncopation to create a Go4 effect. “Cry Wolf” would be a really cool new-wave/post-punk rocker if the lead singer would shut his mouth; he totally ruins what is a cool rocker of a mathy song. Here and elsewhere, the drummer is actually quite proficient, and the guitars are honestly quite cool.
Judging from the picture on the back of this 7”, the band has fully embraced the whole “retro-‘70s rock band with white shirts and ties” thing, which sucks. One of my former college roommates, who sings in notable 1970s retro-emo band, has done the same thing with his wardrobe. I just don’t understand the fascination with such a crappy time in music and fashion, but I digress. Coffinberry, if you’re reading this, dump that singer and go instrumental!
Exit Stencil Recordings: http://www.exitstencilrecordings.com/ • Coffinberry: http://www.coffinberry.com/
