The new album from Spinning Coin is the sort of thing that is going to make me jettison all pretense of impartiality here, and simply rave about this record as if I was writing for a fanzine. Hyacinth, out tomorrow on Domino, is, like its predecessor Permo, a release full of the sort of indie that makes that genre one worth following. This record works in such a way that a listener is reminded just how vital this sort of thing can feel, and just how much fun is still to be found in the musical form being pursued here when it's approached with the kind of enthusiasm these four player bring to things.
"Feel You More Than The World Right Now" is like The Pastels doing Half Japanese, the quavering vocals of Sean Armstrong and Jack Mellin imbuing this with a whole lot of charm, while the more direct "Get High" is all Clinton-era US college rock filtered through a modern sensibility. Far kinder than fellow Scots Yatsura (remember them?), the clattering pop of Spinning Coin embraces disparate influences, from the nerd yelp of Jonathan Richman to the frantic eagerness of any number of Buzzcocks singles. On "Ghosting", the band almost sound indebted to material from any number of American alt-country bands from the Nineties, though bassist Rachel Taylor and drummer Chris White anchor this one, the wonderfully-titled "Despotic Sway" and many cuts here, in such a way that the band's brand of indie remains firmly and clearly part of a very specific U.K.-based lineage.
Still, despite those looming influences present here on Hyacinth, Spinning Coin inject so much energy into nearly everything here. "Laughing" sounds thrown together at the last minute in the same way that lots of the best Pavement numbers sounded. Of course we know it wasn't, but it's got that shambolic vibe that works so well when done correctly. That one, and the spindly "Soul Trader", with its nods to both Big Star (that guitar!) and Talking Heads (the Byrne-like vocals), have hooks, but ones that don't seem entirely obvious. "Never Enough" has real momentum, and it's momentum that seems to be aping those mid-period gems of The Go-Betweens. Like that group, Spinning Coin produce rough pop that's smart and sincere, yet never too studied.
What's all over Hyacinth is music that will seem instantly familiar, and yet which -- somehow -- manages to make the things of indie feel fresh and new again. I mean, we've heard some little bits of this in Belle & Sebastian records, in Pastels cuts, and in Heavenly single tracks, but, inexplicably, Spinning Coin have a nearly magic touch with these things. On paper, it sounds like one is writing about a band slavishly indebted to past pioneers, but the reality is that the Scottish four-piece have barged their way, after only two full-lengths and a handful of singles, into the company of the greats thanks to the strengths of their songwriting and confidence of their playing.
Hyacinth is out tomorrow on Domino.
More details on Spinning Coin via the band's official website, or their official Facebook page.
[Photo: Owen Godbert]