Show The Comas' Comas Indie Style Steadily Rises to the Top Amanda Chamberlain Arts Entertainment The Indie music scene steadily gaining popularity in today's increasingly alt- alt favorable culture invites another rising band The Comas to join the ranks The old school subtly- subtly psychedelic sounds of The Comas dabble in the neo-folk neo genre alongside the like of reinvention bands like Jet and Rooney The North Carolina natives released their third and breakthrough record Conductor in August of 2004 and plan to promote it further with a tour lasting lasting lasting last last- ing throughout February One can hear the quirky personalities radiating from the band members on the record Conductor follows a theme of robots and funky sketches only appropriately paired with lyrical references to invisible invisible invisible ble drugs and rainbows The bands band's official web web- site even features a random picture of an orange Bengal tiger under Band Photos Each and every track on Conductor utilizes at least three different genre- genre types sometimes all at one time For example intro track The Science of Your Mind paints the picture of the lead man Andy Herod barefoot and clad in a white-linen white shirt just sitting sitting sitting sit sit- ting on an empty white whitesand whitesand whitesand sand beach plucking away at his tuned Latin-tuned guitar and soulfully serenading the ocean Think that's detailed Well every song on n this thi album paints a completely different but still copiously detailed S V I IE E x I Ito o u S enro to en toro F ro roThe roE E roo rou 4 v o o u l w c 1 ii The North Carolina band The Comas finally finished recording their latest Indie rock album Conductor August of 2004 picture equally as rate The surreal y echo-y faraway faraway faraway far far- away composure of each song on the album induces the thought that the band chose its name per they dream their music The songs possess multiple mixing-board mixing layers that make closing your eyes and listening to Conductor in the dark a areal areal areal real trip A rarity found on Conductor and hardly anywhere else is the fact that there exists a certain inability to name a dominant dominant dominant domi domi- nant music style to explain the album Some songs seem simply to be slow minor ed chord-ed outpourings outpourings outpourings outpour outpour- ings of hearts wJ while ile ot other er songs songs' as upbeat and n pumped guitar-pumped as aSin any y other pop rock hit The track ten-track CD does entail however a distinctly distressed vocalist vocalist vocalist vocal vocal- accompanied by supporting supporting supporting sup sup- porting mournful music- music makers When you break up it just sucks and youre you're miserable miserable miserable mis mis- erable and theres there's no happy ending and theres there's no credits rolling Herod to told d Rolling Stone mag mag- azine Its It's futile to ignore the up break-up based lyrics In Inthe Inthe Inthe the case of Conductor where Herod laments and vents about former girlfriend girlfriend girlfriend girl girl- friend Michelle Williams from Dawsons Creek the CD can be rightly dubbed as part-Emo part due to the emotional extensiveness extensive- extensive ness of the moody tunes t ts M s Th at rd q ge esQ sn t 4 s sto top p s Aho group grou from climbing Top Ten lists and CD charts galore Spin Rolling RollingStone RollingStone RollingStone Stone Flaunt and Magnet magazines all contained features of this maturing band in one if not several issues Rolling Stone and Spin called Conductor one of the best records you didn't hear while Magnet named the album as one of the top twenty of 2004 Conductor ranking as No 3 But while the acclaim runs a list longer than track 10 on the album technically its it's two songs Falling plus a hidden track the East Coasters remain a whispered name in In Indie ie m merely rely the j l r e to O b being j je e ed- ed J A iA i |