When Chase Lawrence and Joe Memmel signed up for a music theory class at Belmont University, they had no idea that this would change the trajectory of their career. After sitting next to each other, the two began experimenting with creating music together and when they were introduced to Zach Dyke and Ryan Winnen through mutual friends COIN was born and the rest was history.
The group released their first song in 2012, with Lawrence on vocals, Winnen on drums, Memmel on the guitar and backup vocals, and Dyke on the bass guitar. Since their initial release, the group has produced five subsequent albums – COIN, How Will You Know If You Never Try, Dreamland, Rainbow Mixtape, Uncanny Valley, and I’m Not Afraid Of Music Anymore. Unfortunately, the band did disband in January of this year, but they still have plenty of good albums to listen to.
Their older works, such as COIN and How Will You Know If You Never Try, are loud, full of energy, and more on the alt rock side of things. While all of their music is rock in some shape of form, these albums present it most clearly. The songs from COIN kind of all sound the same, but I attribute this to the fact that this was their album. Their second album though is fun to listen to and serves as an audible representation of COIN’s development and confidence in their musical style. The instrumentation in these albums is pretty generic as far as rock goes; electric guitars and drums.
Dreamland and Rainbow Mixtape are when more pop influence started being prevalent in their work, which I honestly feel made their songs even more enjoyable to listen to as you could experience a combination of genres. Rainbow Mixtape also introduces more prominent synth features, developing that distinct COIN vibe. Lawrence’s vocals blend well with the instrumentation and do so in a way that highlights the backtrack while pulling the whole song together.
COIN’s two most recent albums – Uncanny Valley and I’m Not Afraid of Music Anymore shifted towards the indie side of the spectrum, creating a genre that synthesizes rock, pop, and indie into a singular cohesive sound. A decent amount of these songs from these albums are a bit softer and slower, and a decent amount actually feature piano as well, which created a really unique sound when combined with the typical rock instruments.
My Top Ten:
- “Talk Too Much” (How Will You Know If You Never Try)
- “Chapstick” (Uncanny Valley)
- “Cemetery” (Dreamland)
- “Sprite” (Rainbow Mixtape)
- “Olivia” (I’m Not Afraid Of Music Anymore)
- “Killing Me” (Uncanny Valley)
- “Boyfriend” (How Will You Know If You Never Try)
- “Time Machine” (COIN)
- “Brad Pitt” (Uncanny Valley)
- “Miranda Beach” (How Will You Know If You Never Try)
For fans of Fitz and the Tantrums, Foster the People, and the Neon Trees.
