Black Arc - Coast As Cover EP

Coast As Cover leaves a confusing first impression. Enjoyment is palpable, but you can't put your finger on why. Nostalgia overwhelms without obvious comparisons springing to mind. Repeated listens strengthen the spell but refuse to reveal its secret. This begs not to be reviewed, just to be enjoyed. There is no intoxicating elixir hidden amidst the warm fuzzy production: no killer riffs or epic choruses that step forward and take responsibility for the awesomeness. There's just five neat and near flawless rock songs, built up and washed down tightly with equal parts of all the classic ingredients. A quality that's very refreshing in the current climate of increasingly divergent and explicit music. [Shaun Love]