The Coral

The return of The Coral is in full swing. It's not always easy to keep a band together, but these guys have shown grit and determination to do so, taking themselves back to their beginnings by engineering everything on their latest album 'Distance Inbetween', reviving addictive rifts that made them what they are in the first place.

You always know that you are in for a good night when you venture out to see these guys, but kicking things off at the brilliant venue that is The Kasbah were two other acts. Cut Glass Kings from neighbouring Birmingham start proceedings with their heavy sounds and a style not too dissimilar to Bad Blood, but after a couple of songs there was an air of predictability about them. Things were about to get interesting, though, with next act Cabbage. They're the band that everyone is talking about at the moment, having already been named on the BBC Sound Of 2017 long-list where their contemporaries were none too similar.

You can already see that the band have developed a good following and on certain songs from their previous EPs, it's easy to see why. 'Kevin' and 'Dinner Lady' certainly get the crowd going, with guitarist Joe Martin handing his guitar to Lee Broadbent and taking over on lead vocals. These guys clearly aren't shy and looked up for getting right into the crowd were they not the supporting act of the night. One of the highlights of Cabbage's set has to be the fantastically controversial 'Free Steven Avery (White America)'.

Continue reading: The Coral & Cabbage - The Kasbah, Coventry, 12.12.2016 Live Review

Eight years is a long time in music and plenty of time for it to become dated, but that's not stopping The Coral from releasing their not-so-new album 'The Curse Of Love'. This "lost album" has finally risen from the ashes and James Skelly seems excited to unleash it upon us.

You have to admire The Coral for having the bottle to newly release something that was recorded eight years ago, but then again, somehow it feels like the perfect story for this band; these guys just seem to think outside of the box in everything they do and this is just the icing on the cake.

'The Curse of Love (Part 1)' and '(Part 2)' is a perfect and yet frustrating intervention that bookend the album. Why frustrating? Well, just as you get into the mad noises that come from this band the song just cuts dead; there's silence, and then prematurely into the next track. 'Wrapped in Blue' follows and The Coral show that they have found the happy medium between the chilled out and mad sounds coming from every direction. In this they seem to have found discipline in their music, but the problem there is that it was the lack of discipline and total madness that made The Coral so unique in the first place.

Continue reading: The Coral - The Curse Of Love Album Review

Album Review of 'Singles Collection Mysteries and Rarities' released through Deltasonic.

Continue reading: The Coral, Singles Collection Mysteries and Rarities Album Review

The Coral
The Courteeners @ Nottingham Rock City
Monday 8th October
Live Review

Continue reading: The Coral, Nottingham Rock City, Live Review

The Coral
Roots And Echoes
Album Review

The band that gave us Dreaming Of You, Skeleton Key, Good Bye, Bill MaCai, Arabian Sands and In The Morning have finally returned. After being underground for so long The Coral have re-emerged from the depths of being forgotten. One of the hardest working bands going and with all the mentioned tracks probably one of the most underrated, the question is will that still be the case after the release of their new album Roots & Echoes?

So what do The Coral have to offer on their return, it seems that these guys have been around for ever, but with lead singer James Skelly (the oldest member) being at the ripe age of 26 you just know there is so much more too come from these guys.

Roots And Echoes is the new chapter into The Coral's ever-growing career, to be released 6th August 2007. What better way to kick off the album than with the fantastic first Single to come off the album, Who's Gonna Find Me. Typical Coral so much going on at once that you are unsure yourself what is going on, yet ever piece has been strategically paced to complete the jigsaw puzzle. In The Rain also gives off that typical Coral experience with the opening chords sounding like something from The Rolling Stones, upbeat and blasting every instrument out possible. This is what The Coral do best.

After chucking a few typical Coral sounds in The Coral take a whole new direction in the album with more mellow, heartfelt and sad songs. For the hardcore Coral fan this is where you might be a little disappointed. Cobwebs kick off with an acoustic guitar, and although Skelly's vocals are almost hypnotic it doesn't really hide the fact that there isn't a great deal to the song. We are then back to the girl's names in the shape of Rebecca You that again doesn't really stands out not like A Coral track should.

Musically these guys have still got it, with different things happening all at once, leaving you unable to realise what is really going on. It just seems that The Coral have gone for more tracks like Liza rather than the fabulous Calendars and Clocks or Goodbye etc. For the true Coral fan they will appreciate the album but inside, will be disappointed because when The Coral go for it, they don't know the meaning of holding back which is evident in their back catalogue. Sometimes we need to realise that bands evolve and rather than just play it safe, experiment a bit so hats off to The Coral.

James Skelly and gang don't get the recognition that they deserve, especially in the song-writing department. Although when you have the likes of Noel Gallagher and Alex Turner stating their love and appreciation for the band, that alone is the best recognition you could ask for. The only question is how will your guys react to the new stuff?

Mark Moore

4/5

The Coral
Who's Gonna Find Me
Single Review

Continue reading: The Coral, Who's Gonna Find Me, Single Review