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Soaring
debut album from Santa Barbara atmospheric pop outfit. "The
art-rock majesty of The Coral Sea emerges breathtaking, it
steals from your soul, unsurpassed in this part of the world."
Well, The Santa Barbara Independent aint kidding either, The
Coral Sea’s debut is a hypnotic and mellow dreamrock
album that calls to mind classic albums by Bowie, Pink Floyd
and The Beatles, with current comparisons ranging from Yo
La Tengo’s melodic blue-streak zoom-pop to Radiohead’s
impassioned layered vocal/guitar impressionism. Imagine a
stratospherically skillful space-pop quartet with an entire
string section behind it, and you'll be on their wavelength,
but for me it all comes down to the voice. Frontman/founder
Rey Villalobos’ vocals steal the show: a luminous, sometimes
androgynous croon, a silvery warble, without a glimmer of
pretension…and here my closest comparison of the moment
is Mercury Rev’s Jonathan Donahue (but Rey’s voice
is leagues richer and less dependent on effects) and Parasol’s
very own Kevin Tihista (with a bunch more Thom Yorke than
KT’s ever going to show us), especially in the lyrics
and phrasing departments.
THE
TRIPWIRE:
"When the perfect combination of production and songwriting
come together, the result is usually magical. Case in point:
Los Angeles' The Coral Sea. Their debut album, Volcano And
Hearts, is the perfect example of beautiful songwriting whose
quality and perfection is augmented by the effortless arrangements
and crispness of its recording technique... The first thirty
seconds of this album has more mystery and elegance in it
than any other
album I've heard in a long while. It's got the guitar of a
classic U2 song and the strings of Eleanor Rigby. It takes
a page right out of the George Martin recording guide..."
(Jeffrey Thrope)
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