Coma Beach – “Nothing Right”

Coma Beach – “Nothing Right” – Single Review

Alright…where were we?

Ahhh yes…realizing that this band of punks from Germany knows way more about the English language than I do.  No joke folks – the title of their album The Scapegoat’s Agony “is an allusion to the play ‘Waiting For Godot’ by Irish playwright and novelist Samuel Beckett and points towards the – for the most part – painful and excruciating emotional odyssey of the unnamed antihero.”  Ahem.  And I’m supposed to be the writer here?  I can’t keep up with learned knowledge like that on display!  It’s a damn good thing that I know a little bit about this music stuff, cause Coma Beach definitely has me beat on playwrights and novelists I’m sure.  Can’t we all just admit that it’s a whole lot easier to read Stephen King books?

Okay…all kidding around aside – I am truly impressed, and I mean what I say too – I’m fully confident that the guys in Coma Beach have a shit ton of more viable worldly experience and knowledge than I do.  All I’ve ever claimed to know anything about is what sounds good to my ears in the music realm – and I’m actually impervious to all other forms of education, learning, knowledge, and competency, I promise ya.  You all remember Coma Beach?  You should – they were just on our pages last week!  I mean…heck, I think they’re still in the main display window on our site from reviewing their single “Jesus’ Tears.”  I always dig being able to get more of a glimpse into what people are creating, so it’s awesome to be able to check out another single from Coma Beach’s The Scapegoat’s Agony.  Listening to “Nothing Right” seemed to reinforce a lot of how I felt about’em beforehand, but it also reveals further diversity & depth within their brand of Punk music.  Look at it like this…something like “Jesus’ Tears” probably bends a little more towards The Ramones style of Punk, whereas a track like “Nothing Right” would be more of a Sex Pistols influence.  That’s probably a good place to start and an easy way to understand what you’re in-store for.

I wasn’t kidding around about how knowledgeable they are though.  For real – when was the last time you can recall a Punk band basing their music around a novelist/playwright, or Waiting For Godot for that matter?  Never?  Thought so!  That’s uniqueness in action y’all…and not only does it count for something in the greater context of finding ways to stand out apart from the rest, I think it also does a whole lot to break the barriers down on a lot of the public’s perception of what the Punksters behind the music are really like.  To be honest with you, from MY experience, the Punk crowd has ALWAYS been incredibly well informed & educated…but if you ask a random person what they’d think a Punk artist would be like, they instantly assume that the wild antics and loud screaming equates to some kind of idiocy.  Coma Beach is living proof that’s not the case, and I’m sure a great many of their own musical heroes do as well.  It’s not the perception within the Punk community – it’s the perception outside of it.

Anyhow.  Once again, I’d tell ya that I like what I hear in this crew.  In fact, I’d absolutely go to one of their shows if they ever ended up here in Canada or I ended up in Germany – they sound like they’d seriously crush it playing live based on the songs I’ve personally heard so far.  They play like a unified force, and that honestly makes a huge difference when you’re in the Punk realm.  Let’s be real here, that same outside perception usually assumes a whole bunch of sloppiness is goin’ on, but that doesn’t HAVE to be the case whatsoever!  The greatest Punk bands have their shit together just like the best in any other genre would, and that’s the facts.  “Nothing Right” is fully loaded with the kind of gripping energy you wanna hear inside Punk music, and the personality in this band is continually on display for all to hear as well.  Again, this kind of stuff matters…anything that’s too straightforward or normal ain’t gonna cut it in the Punk scene to begin with, but regardless of genre, you need personality in any kind of music in order to set yourself apart from the rest of what’s out there.  Coma Beach is going about things the right way, and it sounds like they’ve got all the right pieces in place to earn success by whatever their own definition if it might be.  Captain A. Fear and M. Blunt handle the guitars with fierce precision.  The drums from M. Lecter are solid…dude’s not too flashy about what he does, and that’s just fine.  As many folks would tell ya, flashy is overrated in the drumming department…you want steadiness as the main priority, and I feel like Lecter has no problem responding to the energy of the music surrounding him as they shift things back and force with their pace or build their songs in their respective structures.  The same largely applies to U. Terror on the bass as well…though I’d also note I really like the tone in his bass.  He’s a great partner in crime for Lecter to have in the rhythm section.  The four of them really do play as a team though, and it’s something that you can genuinely hear.  Again, it’s tighter than most folks would assume, especially when they sound like they could detonate playing live with the same kind of power & passion you’d find in something like Lee Ving’s Fear back in the day.  Of course, to pull all of this off, you need a real leader up front, which is exactly where Coma Beach seems to have an even bigger ace up their sleeve with lead singer/growler/Punk voice B. Kafka.  Not only does the dude clearly put a metric ton of thought into his lyrics and the inspiration behind his words, but the guy has zero qualms of attacking a microphone like it owes him money.  With snarling attitude, venom, and probably a measurable amount of spit, Kafka sounds like the consummate entertainer incarnate, and I think what he brings to this band is a giant contribution to what makes their whole engine roar as loud as it does.

Much to the credit of the band as well, they understand the dynamics of their sound & where the power lies within it.  Again, Punk is often regarded by outsiders as being a genre that’s largely without hooks, but once more, it doesn’t HAVE to be that way, and Coma Beach is proof of that.  “Nothing Right” has another absolutely stellar chorus with backing vocals, harmonies, melody…and all the EFFORT that those outside of the Punk realm tend to accuse bands of just not having enough of.  Coma Beach has got the JUICE y’all…they WANT to be doing what they’re doing to the best of their abilities, and you can truly hear that within songs like “Nothing Right.”  So heck yeah…I’m about about it…I’m into what Coma Beach creates, and I’m not even saying that as a dedicated Punk guy myself either mind you.  I like the best of the best in all kinds of music, and I really just wanna hear that the music MATTERS to you out there in the independent scene, you feel me?  I’ve got no problem sliding Coma Beach onto my playlists – the killer guitar solo on “Nothing Right” would have been enough on its own, but I’ll admit, it’s super nice that the whole band has their shit together, cares about what they create, and puts in the damn WORK.  Coma Beach is Punk music done right…I was convinced before, but this second single from The Scapegoat’s Agony is nice to have as confirmation and an audible incentive to keep on listening to’em.

Find out more about Coma Beach from their official page at Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/coma.beach

If you dig what we do at sleepingbagstudios & want to be part of the madness, by all means click here to be featured on these pages of ours!