What do you get when you mix the voices of Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, Rebecca Gates, Cat Power and conversational "hymm" speech? You get a sample of Eva and Linnea Mohn's voices, two of the four female members of Coach Said Not To, who recently released their full-length debut, "Mini Series." Along with Annika Johnson (drums) and Lee Violet (keys, which, by the way, are these names sounding all-too familiar of a Gem and the Holograms episode?) the Mohn sisters waste no time in diving right into enough elaborately sung storytelling one could weave an entire music quilt, filling each square with a line or two or fifteen of poetic film slides and the raw honesty of a child's gut-ache the morning after Easter.
On "New Joke, Old Habits," the soprano Mohns sails away into sounds of soft, dreamy emo while the other is quick to anchor her alto shore, supporting such sincere statements as "I catnap on the couch, dream my way into your favorite mini series." One cannot help but reminisce back to those early Dawson Creek episodes, pre-scientologized Joey trekking up the ladder into Dawson's bedroom, staring drunkenly in teenage pup-love at each other's pristine Hollywood, non-acne'd faces. Ah, those were the Wednesday nights, alright!
While Coach does indeed offer such innovative declarations as "We want to make a skyline out of all of your pleasures" and "When he comes to town he searches for sound, pretends the traffic is the Atlantic," the highlight of their songs are just that, their declarations and contortion of words. With a new story in every song, the music itself is surprisingly mundane, with only the occasional quirky guitar riff thrown in for what seems like good measure. If scheduled for Sunday brunch with Emily Dickinson, the foursome would be right at home with such boldly original testimonials; however, if grouped with the musical stylings of Prince, Coach may simply find themselves telling each other not to even go there.
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