Coast Redwood - Spirit (Radiclaw Records)
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| Coast Redwood - Spirit |
Release Date: 4th March 2014
Coast Redwood seem like nice
guys. Nice Canadian guys. Even their music is nice and I don't mean that in a derogatory
way. These four guys create those kind of chord changes and rich melodies that
hug you in that warm way that an old whisky or a warm fire does. Opening tack
'Away From The Wasteland', for instance, is full of thick, warm guitars and
swathes of organ that just wrap around you and sweep you away to your happy
place. Then again, 'Dead Where It Lay' starts off with a 'Walking On Sunshine'
drum riff followed by a pop-punk melody that just makes you want to pogo around
your living room until you take out a light or a ceiling fan if you live in a
warm part of the world. 'Cassiopeia' (great title) is a mellow and melodic
piece of loveliness with a country tinge while 'The Train/The Station' is a
Beatles-esque riff accompanied by angular vocals and an edgy beat.
Apart from being a cracking
title, 'Redbloodedteenagejerkoff' sounds like Redd Kross as produced by Kings
Of Leon and then along comes 'Tollbooths & Highways' being all jangly and
suave like a weird mix of the Arctic Monkeys and Edwyn Collins. It's on the lazily
brilliant 'Let Me Dig' that Coast Redwood have really hit gold though as the gorgeous
slide guitars and oak-smoked vocals blend to make a beautifully sun drenched
early morning of a song. The album finishes up with 'End Of The Hunt' which
starts off sleepily but ends up as a full on Lynyrd Skynyrd meets Thin Lizzy
road tune. I said these guys were nice and the music was nice which could be
seen as damning with faint praise but I genuinely enjoyed this music. True
enough, it didn't get my heart racing but that's not what nice does - it just
made me feel happy and perfectly suited my mood at the end of a long day. Nice
guys don't always finished last.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/CoastRedwood