Get to know: The Coasts

I don’t know why it has taken me so long to write this “Get to Know” post.  The new album by The Coasts has been in heavy rotation over here.  I was sent a link to one of The Coasts songs, and, as soon as I finished listening to that song, I bought the album.  The album was immediately loaded onto my iPod, and has been played for every friend I could get to listen.  So, it is long overdue that I tell you to get to know The Coasts.

The Coasts is an odd name for this two man band.  Ike Peters lives in Little Rock, Arkansas & Eric Mount lives in Lebanon, OH (outside of Cincinnati).  Neither of these places are near anywhere resembling the coast.  But that is almost what makes the story of this band even better.  Ike moved to Little Rock sometime ago to take a great job, and he started writing music in his free time.  As the process continued, Ike (along with Isaac Alexander who is connected in the Little Rock music scene) convinced his best friend Eric Mount to visit Little Rock for a weekend to record some of the music he had been working on.  One weekend of recording and $400 later, The Coasts were born.

In the DIY style of music these days, The Coasts could be the poster boys.  It is what brings me back to what I really like in music.  It is their passion that created this awesome fresh take of lo-fi, surf-splashed rock.  It isn’t something that a suit in an office produced with the help of songwriters, backup players, and a canned formula that a spreadsheet says will bring in the most money.  The self-titled debut album is only available digitally right now, and you can only buy it through their bandcamp site for $5.  Seriously, just do without that second latte, and you can grab a great album by some unsigned DIY newcomers.

I’ve been emailing back and forth with Ike today while writing this post, and I asked when they were going to play Nashville.  He told me that they live in different states and have great jobs, so they weren’t sure how they were going to go forward with The Coasts.  I was shocked.  I’ve seen glowing reviews from music blogs all over the internet about these guys, and they are not taking the chance to tour and “make it”…  Of course, I am not living in their shoes, but, all I can say is, unless you work as some adventurer making billions a year…. you might be nuts not to see where this dream takes you.

Best of luck fellas, and let me know if and when you roll through Nashville.  In the meantime, I’ve linked the bandcamp player to let you hear the next album that you are going to own.

[bandcamp album=1757121219  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=grande3]