The Coral is that hyperactive kid in high school who always forgot to take his Ritalin. Bouncing off the walls after lunch, knocking things over in a chaotic mess, then calming down for a brief five minutes.
Two seconds later, he's doing something else completely out of control, like eating 20 Pixie Stix straws or writing with permanent markers on some unsuspecting chap.
The latest export from the world of Brit-pop takes the tired style and makes it completely their own by changing genres in its songs more times than there are tracks on its self-titled debut.
Overzealous and cock-sure at the same time, The Coral's debut album is unlike anything in current music.
Imagine if Mike Patton's Mr. Bungle tried to write a pop song, the Beatles had smoked a lot of crack and played ska or even if the Beach Boys had bought a bunch of sitars and pump organs -- somewhere in there might lie The Coral's hallucinatory sound.
It's like taking the weirdest party music from every culture and shaking it in a gigantic vat of booze and drugs.
Reverb-soaked guitars and a drum cadence bring in the dark rumbling of the opener, "Spanish Main." A psychedelic-pop song that is based on a repeating lyric, it is an accurate taste for the brightly-colored album. The Coral channels its energy into an island vibe full of bar-room swagger and sing-a-long quality in "I Remember When" and "Shadows Fall."
"Simon Diamond" explodes in a cascading minor-key run and builds it back up again, all while sounding like a pirate ballad. Not many bands would end a song with the repeating lyrics of "daddle-doo, ooo," and not only does The Coral do it, but makes it work magnificently.
In "Goodbye," swirling guitars battle staccato organs to create a surrealistic world of chaos. Middle-Eastern-flavored riffs succumb to thumping drums, and then a kicking Russian-style fiesta spurts out of nowhere.
Tracks like "Skeleton Key" hit the listener with the force of a rabbit punch with its screaming vocals and jumpy arrangements of guitar noodling, horns, harmonization and energy.
The subsequent "Wildfire" calms the mood down, but "Bad Man" bends and twists in feedback, like that last beer that seemed like a good idea before you left the party.
While other rock bands focus on the garage sound, The Coral has total disdain for structure and current trends. Yet, the album ends up sounding unbelievably trendy ... which is somewhat odd, but true. The focus on the record doesn't seem to be the lyrics, which don't really fit the upbeat tracks.
Its debut does prove one thing: The Coral will be around for a while, at least long enough to get a few dirty glances from teachers or to pay a visit to the principal's office.
