Coastal Remedy
To the World
(Seven Fields Entertainment)
www.coastalremedy.com
This full-length is a follow-up to the Indiana, Pa.-based band's self-titled debut, which came out two years ago. My quibble with the debut was that it was all over the place; this one shows the four-piece spent time honing its material and maturing. Each song follows from the last, and Coastal Remedy has found its sound: somewhere between singer-songwriter pop, grunge and late-'90s emo-core. Acoustic guitar underlies much of the material, but most of it has a loud, rock-band finish. Even the odd instrumental finds its place in the larger landscape of the album. At just shy of an hour total, it might be a bit much to digest as one album — the inherent risk is that even fans won't often make it to track 14, if anyone still listens to an album through these days — but it's conceptual and well-planned regardless.
Come Holy Spirit
Come Holy Spirit
(Self-released)
www.facebook.com/comeholyspiritpgh
Eight-track full-length cassette release from the project of Gina Favano with Sam Pace (Gangwish) and Aaron Lindberg (Lungs Face Feet) backing her up. Polyrhythms and semitones bring a non-Western feel to much of this release; Favano's singing often rests between incantation and spiritual. The first several tracks are moody and unresolved, but they give way in the end to the more free-and-easy "Too Many Damn Sticks" and the exuberant "Grand Island." Shades of David Byrne, only less reserved, or maybe art-pop minus most of the pop.
