The Coral reviewed
The Coral
Roots And Echoes
(Columbia/Red Ink)
When The Coral emerged from the garage rock onslaught of 2001, the influences they boasted made their future sound as colorful and vast as their namesake. Just hearing the words “Captain Beefheart” provided refuge amid a sea of bands prepared to blurt “Iggy! MC5!”
Six years — and nearly as many records — later, and The Coral have somehow managed to fall behind that auspicious debut. On a whole, Roots And Echoes boasts maturity in the worst way, crooning its way to the middle. Whereas their first three albums felt like a band daring one another, The Coral 2007 seem content to tie the ship to James Skelly’s baritone (though a fine instrument it is) in a way that suggests 2005’s Invisible Invasion wasn’t just a pause to catch some air. Now standing at the helm of a boat that would gloriously shipwreck at every turn, Skelly is almost serene and has shaved off the scruff that used to make comparisons to Eric Burdon valid. “Remember Me” reaches back to their old reverb-surfing ways, and “Music At Night” goes for “Don’t Think You’re The First” and the Old West, but it’s all pro now. More than ever, it’d be better if they went back to singing “Goodbye.”
— Steve Forstneger
