Band To Know: CoCoComa

Download: CoCoComa - "(Tryin' To) Read My Mind"
Download: CoCoComa - "Premonition"

Besides having one of the most awesome album covers of last year (which provides the image at the top of this post), Chicago garage-rock band CoCoComa have also delivered an incredibly tight album of whip-smart anthems for those who are frustrated with the jobs, their significant others, and their lives. CoCoComa was released last month on Goner records.

It's a shame that High Fidelity has already been made into a movie, because CoCoComa would have been the perfect soundtrack. Singer/drummer Bill Roe, who makes up the trio along with his wife Lisa (guitar) and bassist/farfisa organist Mike Fitzpatrick, howls lyrics like "If you can't read my heart/how can you read my head?" in the ferocious song "(Tryin' To) Read My Mind" while the rhythm section propels forward like an unholy juggernaut.

That's unquestionably the highlight of the record, though "Premonition" and "Desperate Situation" are close seconds. The band doesn't have any MPLS dates coming up, but if they do, we'll let you know, because CoCoComa put on an incedinary live show.

Buy CoCoComa here

MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

CoCoComa

(Photo by Sherry Cardino, taken from the band's MySpace page)

Though they've only put out a few 7" records (their first proper LP is due out later this year on Goner Records), Chicago based trio CoCoComa is quickly becoming a local sensation. Clubgoers are packing the group's shows like sardines. And for good reason:



As you can clearly (well, maybe not-so-much clearly, due to the lighting) see, CoCoComa rock like golden gods of the garage. I read the Chicago Reader's profile about these merry band of garage punk pranksters and decided to check out the band's MySpace page.

The band has four songs posted on the site. Worth noting are the intense rocker "Fever," which is just a few very pissed-off baby steps (and a bump or two up in tempo) away from sounding like Motorhead, and "Premonition," which sounds like Mudhoney co-opting the wavy keyboards of Elvis Costello's "Radio Radio."

Read more about them in Time Out Chicago's "Local Artist Forecast" piece . CoCoComa prove that, while Minneapolis certainly fucking rocks, Chicago isn't doing too badly either.

(Jonathan Graef)