1. Dreamsucker 2. Thumbs 3. At The Pool 4. Fag Feels Good 5. Acid King Of Hell (Guitar Feelings) 6. Ghost Cat 7. She-Bears 8. C.J. 9. Kier 10. The Nights Were Walls (We Climbed Them All)

Grooms (Brooklyn, NY)

(2009) LP - Grooms (Death By Audio Records)

Indie Rock / Noise Rock / Hard Rock

Travis Johnson (Vocals, Guitar)

Emily Ambruso (Bass)

Jim Sykes (Drums)

(This is Grooms 1st show in San Diego.)

Grooms construct and deconstruct Experimental Indie songs with elements of noise, unconventional melodic structures and well-placed discordant clashes.  Each track keeps shifting gears until finally settling on a groove and unleashing all that built up potential energy.  Live they reminded me a bit like Autolux with more of the quieter and deranged parts than the in-your-face sonic pummeling.

‘Ghost Cat’ is a perfect example of their strange grandiose journeys.  In its four and a half minutes, it goes from a slow tension building intro, that ends in layers of noise, to a beautiful, twinkling guitar melody, which builds again into an off-kilter Noise Rock masterpiece.

*//Purchase

Cool like: Autolux, Coin Under Tongue, Sonic Youth, Pavement, Sisters, Pursesnatchers, A Place To Bury Strangers

1. Beyond Yes 2. Night Weed 3. High Until We Die 4. Reception

Coin Under Tongue (Brooklyn, NY)

(2009) EP - The So Far (Death By Audio Records)

Hard Rock / Post Punk / Stoner Rock / Noise Rock / Psychedelic Rock / Post-Hardcore

Joe Kelly (Vocals, Guitar)

George Wilson (Bass)

Greg Wilson (Drums)

(Coin Under Tongue performing an Eddy Current Suppression Ring cover, wicked!)

Want some bad-ass rock with lots of personality and a hair-raising sensation of impending doom?  Coin Under Tongue have it covered and then some.  They pack an entire LP worth of twists and genre-bending turns into another four song EP, someone must be putting something in Brooklyn’s water.  The So Far EP is made up of tracks they’ve finished “So Far” for their upcoming Reception LP.

On ‘Beyond Yes’ Joe’s guitar snarls like the giant turtle Morla, from The Neverending Story, hocking up a monster loogie before being electrocuted by The Nothing, surely Death By Audio pedals are at play here.

Thanks to Death By Audio Records for giving us this tasty little EP free, Coin Under Tongue’s upcoming album will obviously kick some serious ass.

Free Download //

Cool like: A Place To Bury Strangers, Death From Above 1979, Queens Of The Stone Age, Middle Class Rut, Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave, At The Drive In, Scars, Joy Division, The Bronx

1. Coin Under Tongue 2. Roll Child 3. Shaven Clean 4. This Flag Is A Scythe

Coin Under Tongue (Brooklyn, NY)

(2008) EP - Hussies At Bay (Death By Audio Records)

Hard Rock / Post Punk / Stoner Rock / Noise Rock / Psychedelic Rock / Post-Hardcore

Joe Kelly (Vocals, Guitar)

George Wilson (Bass)

Greg Wilson (Drums)

(The sound quality is horrible, but all you need to hear is the monstrous opening riff)

When we interviewed Oliver Ackerman, guitarist/vocalist of A Place To Bury Strangers, after their recent Casbah gig, we asked him who he most wanted to take on tour.  He told us his good friends Coin Under Tongue are amazing, how right he was.

The next day I researched this new band with the kick ass name, and found out that they’re actually signed to Oliver’s own label, Death By Audio Records.  Not only that, but Oliver’s sick guitar pedal company, of the same name, makes the pedals that Coin uses.  I went on Death By Audio’s blog and found they were giving the Hussies At Bay EP away for free, my life will never be the same.

In ancient times some people used to believe that if you put a gold coin under the tongue of the recently deceased, it would help them pay the ferry toll to cross the river Styx and enter the Underworld.  If they don’t put the coin under tongue the dead man’s spirit will haunt them forever.  Coin Under Tongue might be one of the best band names ever.

The first track on Hussies At Bay has a riff that would sink the Titanic, think Rage Against The Machine crossed with Aerosmith and a touch of Tool.  Yeah, that’s right, I said it.  On this one Joe Kelly uses his mid range bark that’s raspy, punk and ballsy enough to stand up to the rest of the sonic onslaught.

Next is ‘Roll Child’, which sounds nothing like the last track.  It starts with a Post Punk beat and a guitar lick that is more reminiscent of Joy Division than anything Hard Rock.  Once Joe decides to overdrive his buttery vocals the Coin’s sound becomes more obvious.  The song quickly shifts into a more garage feel and starts uncontrollably oozing swagger.  I can’t imagine what might possibly come next.

‘Shaven Clean’, could be what the amazing Death From Above 1979 might sound like if they hadn’t broken up.  Kelly cycles through one epic fizzling guitar tone after another while the bass holds down a dope clean groove.

Finally, ‘This Flag Is A Scythe’, is the brilliant closer.  It’s got a strong shuffling Post Punk beat, with Jamie Cook guitar swats.  Again, the guitar tones are untouchable and different from the previous tracks.

A flawless EP that proves Coin Under Tongue will soon have the whole Underworld at their feet.

*//Buy It

Cool like: A Place To Bury Strangers, Death From Above 1979, Middle Class Rut, Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave, At The Drive In, Scars, Joy Division, The Bronx