The Coke Dares, Feelin’ Up

The Coke Dares feature the rhythm section from the Magnolia Electric Company, but their stuff is nothing like Jason Molina’s — this is stripped-down punk rock, along the lines of Buzzcocks or the Minutemen but with a catchy garage-rock streak. Their songs have that Minutemen terseness — songs average 0:45, but a surprising number of them are fully developed and remarkably melodic. Feelin’ Up is the Dares’ second album, and it’s a lot of fun.

The songs range from a more standard punk template to the catchier Buzzcocks model. “Emergency Room Blues” is a whiplash-inducing energetic song with cunningly timed stop-time breaks and an interesting chromatic chorus. “Blind 17” is a big catchy anthem, despite only being 54 seconds long, that comes complete with some great guitar riffs, nice harmonies, and outro. “Overcommitted and Underloved” falls more on the highly melodic Buzzcocks end (it actually sounds a lot like MOTO); it’s slightly slower, with the drums and the big harmonies on the chorus lending it more of a ’60s feel.

The Coke Dares have an endearing dryly absurdist streak to them. “Oh No! Mailman” is about being afraid of the omniscience of one’s mailman, complete with oddly timed drum breaks that enhance the absurdity of the song. They also manage to squeeze two verses, a chorus, and a bridge out of a song about a mask map, which is of course what you use to find your masks with. “No Pictures” is about absolutely nothing, merely noting the people one fan talked to. Good thing it’s catchy!

These guys have a real knack for melody, and they use it in interesting ways. And the range of songs is broad enough it keep it interesting — with an album of 33 songs, you might expect things to start to sound the same, but they don’t really have that problem. The fact that they all sing really helps keep things moving along. Plus, the band is tight and economical with their parts, which is exactly what it all needs. Too bad Magnolia keeps them so busy; this group deserves some attention, too.