Coasting is Madison Farmer on guitar and Fiona Campbell on drums, a female duo out of Brooklyn via Arkansas and New Zealand, respectively. The three tracks on their debut 7” are energetic, fun, and ripe for summer, and showcase the band’s style—a little bit surf, modernized for the 21st century with a healthy dose of reverb, and a little bit ‘90s. A friend of mine once referred to Coasting as “riot srrrf”; another said of the first track, ‘The one we both like’: “It’s like Nirvana, but good!”
The songs on this record range from soft to forceful, often achieving both at the same time, without seeming sentimental or angsty. Madison’s almost-delicate vocals add an effective femininity to an otherwise ferocious backdrop of fuzzed out guitar and big drums. The duo also seems, refreshingly, not to take writing lyrics all that seriously (the second track on the A side, ‘Pussy bow,’ is about a shirt/female S&M fantasy), preferring instead a strong melody. The B-side ‘Kids’ in particular is inviting and sweet, but not saccharine.
The recordings also make clear the nuance in Fiona’s drumming, which is hard-hitting and foot-tappable while at the same time meticulously composed and executed. She avoids heaviness even with her generous use of toms, compensating for the absence of true bass; she makes smart use of crescendo, of space, of the ride and hi-hat. And just as you start to grasp the intricacies of her drumming, Fiona has a way of incorporating, say, a 60s pop-esque double snare hit after building up a rolling, aggressive momentum with the toms—in effect reminding you that, lurking behind the complexity of what she is actually achieving as a percussionist, there is a pop song there, and it wants you to dance.
Coastings 1st record release party
w/ Sisters, Big Troubles and Xray Eyeballs at Death By Audio
Wednesday June 2nd
Doors 8pm, All Ages
– Lynette Blood
this sounds interesting, i want to hear their music and i cant find anything yet.
Go to their myspace!! http://www.myspace.com/brooklyncoasting