Of the rising indie bands I could name, who I think deserve your admiration and attention, few come to mind quicker than Albany’s Coupons. I don’t write a lot about indie rock bands (I have my reasons) but I have nothing but warm gushy feelings for these guys (and gal)! Up & Up is the band’s second LP, following their pleasingly eccentric debut Number One Hit Album. After a short hiatus, the band slid back into productive mode laster year, assembling slacker anthems that would be chart heat-seekers in a world were college radio retained the cache and liquidity priming power of a Spotify Dailey Playlist or a Walmart blind buy off the CD rack (a consumer behavior that still drives a lot of country music sales, apparently). The first lick after unwrapping this cool, ear-candy confectionary is the big, groovy garage bop “90’s Kids,” an honest and simple construction with a patina of psychedelic-pop, which, true to its name, sounds like it could have played over a montage from The Adventures of Pete & Pete. The following track “Moz Disco” has a lightly funky bass line that drives forward a bright, lonely-hearts post-disco melody, and a rolling rocker hymn with a peevish punk undertone of the kind Sabrina Ellis and Andrew Cashen have taken to writing for Sweet Spirit. After the college rock soul and broken-rhythm blues of “Expectations and Plans” the album really settles into a routine of vacillating between indie guitar folk in the vein of Blitzen Trapper and Replacements beguiled garage punk a la Beach Slang as exhibited on “I Wanted” and The Hold Steady on “Ansel.” Even when they’re playing to their strengths in familiar lanes, you can still expect a few curveballs, like the piano-led, coffee-bar confessional, “Don’t Let Me,” the "Pianoman" of indie film festival submissions soundtracks. Up your daily recommended dose of DIY and get down with Coupons today.
