Coffin Break - Rupture / Psychosis

Label: Tupelo Recording Company

Year: 1990

Here's an interesting little band out of Seattle who flew below the radar of that city's much hyped "other" musical scene. While they operated simultaneously with their bigger, more popular peers, Mudhoney, Nirvana, Melvins, and Soundgarden, they eschewed the temptation to look back to classic rock for their inspiration. Instead, they played a mix of punk, metal, and pop music that drew not from Led Zeppelin, but the Descendants and Corrosion Of Conformity instead.

This cd collects their first two albums, both released in 1989 on C/Z Records originally. And I'll be the first to admit that there are some real clunkers on this record, especially when they slow down and play power-pop, and the vocals are make or break for these guys. You either can get on board or you hate 'em. If you hate 'em, I can't rightfully blame you, because I hated 'em too. Now, in retrospect, they aren't bad, just different, a little cleaner than most of this style. And to further bash this band, there are moments of outright O.C. jock-punk bullshit (Offspring anyone?), but again, when they fire on all cylinders, it's good stuff. The second half (the Psychosis lp) is superior to the first half, but both have their moments. 

This might be the first thing I've posted to this blog that I can't stand behind 100%, but hey, you may like it, or you might have had this back in the olden days and want to relive the glory. Chalk it up to "Gray's cleaning off his hard drive", and before I released this album from this mortal coil, I thought I would share it.

DL