Well they have been around for ten years or so and I have never really taken much notice of The Coral before – just seemed a bit too locked into the Oasis scene for me. A couple of OK singles but never pierced my conciousness.
But the new album Butterfly House, apparently their sixth seems a bit like a new stage for them. The ‘Best Of’ thing has been done and heralds a difficult period – more of the same or a fresh effort?
Butterfly House feels like and ideal album for the summer – despite the current leaden skies – bright jangly guitars, a jaunty acoustic/rock favour and male vocal harmonies that have finally found their time perhaps. It all feels gloriously like a revisit of 1967 and Woodstock era songs, albeit updated for the new millennium.
The recent advent of bands like Fleet Foxes and Mumford & Sons will have done them no harm, warming up the market for this sort of sound – though of course The Coral are nothing like FF and M&S; in so many respects.
Tracks like 1000 Years and North Parade stand out, the later with its more ‘let loose’ sound where James Skelly takes flight. All in all a pleasantly surprising set, the sound much like the vibrant, multicoloured and slightly hippy/psychedelic cover.
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