by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Seattle’s Coral Grief understand the aesthetic they are going for. They’ve nailed it with their music, they’ve nailed it with their album art, and even their press photos offer a hint at what you’re about to hear (or at least the era it derives from). In another lifetime, the band’s upcoming Daydrops EP would be coming out on 4AD or Sire Records some time around 1992, but in our present existence, the band have a great home at Den Tapes (Fluung, Salt Lick, Apples with Moya), and their latest is due out February 24th. Their music is wondrously dreamy, floating in the ether with gentle textures and focused rhythms. They jump between mellowed ambiance and motorik psych-pop, pulling influences from bands like Yo La Tengo and Broadcast together to create their own introspective landscape. Led by the gorgeous vocals and slinky bass of Lena Farr-Morrissey, the trio shift in gradual formation from one blissed out moment to the next.
Having shared lead single and EP opener “Copycat” back in January, the band return with our next Daydrops preview, a video (directed by Mads Engel) for the kraut-pop splendor of “Wow Signal”. Where “Copycat” pulled at emotional heartstrings with wavy alternative rock ambition, “Wow Signal” opts for more of a hypnotic aura and a solar flare propulsion. The band keep the pulse flowing in constant motion, digging in with layered guitars and a kaleidoscopic psych framework, floral and breezy, but intricately developed. From humble jangle to warped Stereolab-esque worship, the song evolves from it’s dreamy pop beginnings into a cosmic wall of sound, bent guitars and drum fills in shimmering harmony.
Tour Dates:
3/02 - Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern
3/03 - Portland, OR @ The Lollipop Shoppe
3/04 - Eugene, OR @ House Show
3/05 - Davis, CA @ House Show
3/07 - San Jose, CA
3/08 - Oakland, CA @ Thee Stork Club
3/09 - Los Angeles, CA @ Silverlake Lounge
3/10 - Long Beach, CA @ Vine
3/11 - Phoenix, AZ @ Lost Leaf
3/12 - El Paso, TX @ Mona
3/14 - 3/18 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
3/19 - Colorado Springs, CO @ Colorado College
3/21 - Denver, CO @ Skylark Lounge
3/22 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The International