Everyone has their own different methods of finding new music. Sometimes it’s a nudge from a friend, or a curated playlist on Spotify, or a trusted radio host that you can turn to on a daily basis. For me, Ive always been able to find new and interesting bands thanks to whoever curates the song playlist at the gym. It’s how Ive found artists like Mac Demarco and Mikaela Davis. Sometimes a song in the background of your normal workout playlist is enough of a bop to turn down your music and go “what’s this?”
Such was the case a few months ago as I was shaving at the gym, sore and exhausted from a workout, listening to “Talk too much” from the locker room speakers. It’s reggae guitar riff, and energetic pop vocals were enough for me to pull out my phone, say “Siri, what song is playing?” and screenshot the result for later. Any song that can do that – make me dance a little even after a workout – has earned a spot on my own playlist, and a trip down the rabbit hole to figure out where this came from.
The song, “Talk too much” currently sits just under 79 million plays on Spotify, so I’m defintiely not the only one who considers it a bop. It comes from a band called COIN, an alt rock band out of Nashville. COIN was the opening act for Fitz and The Tantrums Saturday night at First Avenue and while many people were there to see Fitz, COIN’s energetic songs had attracted a small, energetic crowd as well, who hung to the rail at the front at the stage and danced to every word. One girl had face-timed the whole show to her friend that couldn’t be there. Now thats a good friend.
Throughout the show, It became apparent that COIN deserves their own headlining tour, (dates of which you can see here) And has outgrown the opening act title. Songs like “Boyfriend” “Cemetery” and “I want it all” Even got people dancing from the moment they got their wrist stamped at the door. The drum kit of Ryan Winnen sat far forward on the stage in front of Fitz and the Tantrums equipment, giving little room for singer Chase Lawrence to move about the stage when he wasn’t playing synthesizer. As a result, he often ventured into the pit, and sat on the front rail, on the cusp of crowd surfing toward the end of the set.
One thing about the headlining tour list that I noticed – No Minnesota date. This opening act slot is the only time we may see COIN this year. However after singing their latest single ‘Crash My Car’ released just 2 days ago, Chase brushed back his hair and looked at the crowd in bewilderment. “Wow, this feels good.” he said in between breaths “I feel at home right now. Something weird always happens when we play Minneapolis, but not this time. This is great. We have got to get back here ASAP.” Here’s hoping they stay true to that idea. Their third album is slated for a fall 2019 release, so when the do come back, they’ll have some more tunes to share with us. Perhaps too late for a summer jam, but likely in time to remind us of summer for a bit.
