The term “girl rock” is often unfairly used as an insult. It’s a throwaway comment that is used to dismiss rock outfits comprised of women, but the sad thing is it seems to be critically accepted in the music industry nowadays. It’s an okay form of, perhaps not sexism, but certainly elitism – and everyone is apparently okay with it! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen Warpaint casually and tragically dismissed with the phrase. I don’t know whether it’s mean to insinuate that female bands can’t make rock music – that it’s a “guy thing” or something – or simply that no women rock is worth anything. That it’s dainty, or floaty, or “rock light”, or some other stupid assumption. It’s something that’s bothered me for years, but no one seems to acknowledge it.
Then along came Girl in a Coma. More specifically, along came their latest release “Exits & All the Rest”, not only one of the best, catchiest rock albums of the year, but dare I say the most masculine.
I think one of my favorite things about Girl in A Coma, which really manifests itself on this album, is how headlong and passionately they throw themselves into their music. It’s impossible to imagine a temperate performance of any of the songs on “Exits & All the Rest”, and throughout the run-time of every track I can easily envisage Girl in a Coma freaking out. That’s not just endearing, or charming; it’s downright heart-warming. They absolutely throw themselves kicking and screaming into every song. They do so with a vigor that says they honestly don’t care about how they look or come across from their music, which expectedly, makes them all the more cool. It’s a real proto-punk attitude towards songwriting and it’s damned fun to listen to. It wouldn’t work as well if there were any hesitation on the bands part; but there isn’t. They’re a band that, for lack of a better term, isn’t afraid to “ugly up” for a song; playing violently, singing soulfully and performing forcefully. Girl in a Coma have a clear love for music and the process of making music that manifests itself in a terrific way on “Exits & All the Rest”.
Not to undersell the technique on “Exits & All the Rest” – the songs, despite their powerful and sometimes even appropriately violent nature, never seem sloppy or incoherent. You can easily reconstruct the delicate and intelligent songwriting on “Exits & All the Rest”. The best way to describe the album would to say that it sounds like it was carefully thrown together. This comes across in one of the albums other greatest strengths; its pacing. While I wouldn’t outright say there’s a bad song on “Exits & All the Rest”, I will say that it absolutely rockets towards its conclusion. The tracks overall just become stronger and stronger, and listening to “Exits & All the Rest” as an album is a really rewarding experience.
I feel like Girl in a Coma have established a tradition of using their opening songs on each of their releases to sort of reintroduce themselves for every album, and I think it’s a tradition that really works. The opening tracks on “Exits & All the Rest”, the punk-ballad “Adjust” and energetically catchy “One Eyed Fool” give the listener a great feeling for what the band is about without giving away any of their great tricks too early. By the time the surf-rock infused lullaby “She Had a Plan” kicks in, you’ll have a great appreciation for what the band have put together – and if you hadn’t heard of them before, your loyalty should be assured by the time the song finishes. When the song spirals towards its finish, Nina Diaz loses herself in it, bellowing and shouting in a glorious gravelly-voiced display. While it sounds nothing like it, it’s reminiscent of how Isaac Brock will toss himself into a song, placing a greater importance on performance than anything else.
Then the record outdoes itself again; from the enthralling, grotesque, explosion of “She Had a Plan”, “Exits & All the Rest” drops us into “So” – a slow, heartfelt melody that sounds like it’s from a different phase in the bands career entirely. This drop manages to be incredibly effective, and more so, when “So” develops into the strained wails it does it reclaims its sense of placement on the album. When the chant of “Baby love sold you, back when you were unborn” starts up towards the end of the song, it becomes meaningful and personal in a way you couldn’t have expected when the tack initially kicked in. That lyric cleverly leads into the beach-friendly, catchy, caterwauling of “Cemetery Baby”. Like I said, cleverly, carefully thrown together.
Another distinctive point on the album is “Control”. It demonstrates the versatility of Diaz’s voice, but there’s also a great style present in the song. The lyrics tell us “Happiness is warm inside”, but the song itself is so grim and gritty that it transforms the dark, though at the same time still completely sincere. There’s something undeniably cool about taking such a warm sentiment and somehow finding a way to make it sleazy. It’s a skill Greg Dulli often demonstrates (Most noticeably the crooning of “Love is Good” on “Love”), and its executed flawlessly here.
All in all, Girl in a Coma have released what is probably their best album to date. Channeling the spirits of their heroes to create something entirely their own, they’ve released an album full of great songs and an unmistakable personality. After “Exits & All the Rest”, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to hear the term “girl rock” as an insult again.
We're looking for writers and editors to join the team. Interested? Apply today!
Let’s Be Friends!