The Coast

The Coast - 2008 Tour Dates, Tokyo Police Club remix, video

DOWNLOAD: The Coast - Nueva York (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Coast - Tightrope (Tokyo Police Club remix) (MP3)

Toronto's The Coast will release their full-length album Expatriate in August. The album contains the track "Tightrope" which was also remixed by their hometown friends Tokyo Police Club for a 7" that came out on June 12th. Grab that remix above. Check out the Coast in NYC TONIGHT (July 6), or at one of the other shows listed below (including a 2nd NYC show).... - Brooklyn Vegan

The long-awaited debut full-length album by the Coast is electric, organic, and supplemented with reverb and violins. The four-man band of Toronto natives released Expatriate in spring 2008, receiving resounding praise from national Canadian music magazines, and this summer they make their way across the U.S. for an American reaction. Check them out at Quenchers June 20 and Schubas on July 4. Especially danceable tracks include “Floodlights” and “Ceremony Guns,” both of which are driven by heavy drumbeats and energetic baselines. For something a little more relaxed, skip forward to “Play Me the Apostle,” but don’t expect any kind of easy listening: Even on chill tracks (and there are a few), the lyrics spare the listener naught by way of heartache: “No one’s honest when you’re asking for lies / You give me yours and I’ll give you mine.” - Elizabeth - UR Chicago

By Molly Fitzpatrick
In their single, “Nueva York,”The Coast suggest we “take the iron bridge to where the Hudson’s heaving.”And it’s exactly there that they plan to bring their multilayered, moody indie pop.The Coast are playing July 6at Union Hall and July
8at Rehab (formerly Club Midway) in
NYC. The band consists of four Toronto men who’ve been friends since childhood.The Coast released their full-length debut, Expatriate, this April.While a lot of the tour’s gigs are Canadian, they’ve scheduled
enough shows across the United States to lend the album title some merit. The record has managed to exceed expectations generated by their North American tour last year, when they played alongside more established Canadian acts like Tokyo Police Club and The Dears. Tokyo Police Club even remixed The Coast’s “Tightrope”for the single’s B-side.

This year seems like it could be The Coast’s own time for stardom. Union Hall is located at 702 Union Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn and Rehab at 25 Avenue B in Manhattan.The Brooklyn show is with Fresh Air Kids and Norway’s Sissy Wish.Doors open at 7:30 p.m.The Coast will play Rehab at 9 p.m., opening for HerMajesty.Tickets for both shows are $8. For more information, visit
myspace.com/thecoastmusic.

- Aquarian Weekly

The Coast washed over Manhattan for an atmospheric set. The Toronto band has been labeled “Canada’s best-kept secret” by MTV, and they certainly show a skill that belies their young years, first on their self-titled EP (QRO review), and now on their U.S. tour. Showcasing tracks from their upcoming Expatriate (QRO Upcoming Releases Calendar), the band actually fit well in the somewhat imperfect Rehab (QRO venue review) in New York on Tuesday, July 8th.
On Manhattan’s Lower East Side, just north of Houston, Rehab isn’t an ideal venue, because it’s sort of stuck between two worlds. It’s a basement venue like such low-scale Bowery haunts as The Cake Shop (QRO venue review), but done up more professionally than even the higher-scale Mercury Lounge (QRO venue review). Yet the stage is only a step or two above the ground, and it’s long and thin, as opposed to wide, which practically invites the crowd to hang farther to the back. The somewhat random line-up of lesser acts doesn’t help much, either, as it doesn’t encourage people to stick around for the next, or show up early for the previous. Playing on the Tuesday after the Fourth of July long weekend doesn’t help, either.

Click here for photos from this show in the QRO Concert Photo Gallery
Yet The Coast really made it work – and that was in spite of a couple of technical errors when the singer changed instruments. Their sound certainly hews to the expansive guitar atmosphere of the ‘Canadian Invasion’ of a few years ago (though The Coast does it with fewer members), but that made the more removed crowd a more relaxed setting. And the young men were quick enough to fill their unscheduled breaks with enough wit (jokes about being picked up on the side of the road by a born-again Bible distributor & that they’re not bowing after every song – their set-list is just really small and they have to lean over to see it).

Of course, the main factor is the music, and that’s something The Coast are very good at. Playing almost exclusively from Expatriate, they hit up such great tracks as single “Tightrope” (with its wonderful “Hey, hey, you!” chorus) and the apropos “Nueva York”, which really give the feel of being one person in the big, big city. Perhaps because those are so great, it was the later songs that really took a step-up, live. “Ceremony Guns”, for instance, was even more crashing in its attack, while the following “Floodlights” was an excellent wash. And “The Lines Are Cut” (from the EP) was a kick-ass finisher (which the band thankfully did not skip – their technical difficulties forced them to skip one of their last three songs), as all four delivered an energetic crescendo.


Considering The Coast’s newness, the unreleased nature of most of the material, the venue, and the day of the week, the crowd was surprisingly pretty familiar with the band and into the set (not being as skuzzy a venue as some of the Bowery haunts meant a higher class – or at least more attractive group – of people). The Coast might be too late to jump in on the original ‘Canadian Invasion’ (though they’re really tailor-made to open for one of those bands when they tour The States – Broken Social Scene, are you listening?…), but they do prove that Toronto is going to be an indie-rock bellwether for a long time to come. - QRO Magazine

Toronto’s the Coast may have inadvertently stumbled on critical and
commercial genius by merging the wondrous worlds of O.C.-endorsed
pop and atmospheric UK rock into a sound that perhaps should be
dubbed... Bloc Party Of Five. “We’re definitely interested in making pop re-
cords,” concedes the quartet’s 23-year-old singer/guitarist Benjamin Spurr,
whose “aboots” and other Canadian affectations are almost as endearing
as his heart-on-sleeve lyrics. “Those are the ones we grew up liking, and I
think if you’re overly self-conscious about the way that you write, you can
end up being disingenuous.” What makes the six tracks on their self-titled EP
(Aporia) work though, is the balance of blissful melodies and strong
hooks with shimmering layers of Joshua Tree-era U2 guitars and often-
unconventional song structures. “That said, we want to sound like
ourselves and put our own spin on things,” Spurr continues. “I think
we’re approaching that more and more. I used to shy away from put-
ting idiosyncrasies into the songs, but these days that doesn’t seem
worth it to guard those things. We’re not trying to be Prince or anything,
but we hope our own personality and our own sentiments come out in
these songs.” And if Spurr sounds like a weathered veteran, it’s be-
cause he and his still-young cohorts (guitarist/keyboardist Ian Fosbery,
bassist Luke Melchiorre and his brother, drummer Jordan) have played under
different guises since 2000, while they were still in high school. “We can’t
really get away from each other, even if we tried at this point,” Spurr laughs.
But maintaining that level of personal and professional chemistry, whether
between buddies or brothers, isn’t always easy. Just ask everyone from
Fleetwood Mac to At The Drive-In. “I think it is pretty rare,” concurs Spurr.
“But we’ve achieved a lot musically... We started to play together before
we could play our instruments, so it’s never gotten boring because we’ve
always tried to improve ourselves. The way that we play individually and
the way that we play together has kind of kept on changing over the years.”
>>>KENNY HERZOG - CMJ Music Monthly

Toronto’s the Coast, currently in the midst of a cross-Canada tour to support new album “Expatriate” (Aporia), knew it had been involved in a rite of passage when the band was recently robbed during a gig in Victoria. But it could have beenworse,
the Coast singer/guitarist Ben Spurr says. All the thieves got away with were his clothes, which allowed the band to continue its tour, after a pit stop for a new wardrobe.

Spurr is pleased with the reaction to “Expatriate,” an album deep with catchy guitar-based pop hooks.
“There was a desire to put our live energy across on record,” Spurr says. “Being direct is important when you’re playing to crowds that may not be familiar with you.”

- Billboard Magazine

The Coast
"Tightrope" (Exclaim! Exclusive)
2/25/2008 By Cam Lindsay

Who knew working your ass off for two years, touring North America, hitting every little stink town in between all of the metropolitan ones could actually pay off? Well, the Coast , for one. These Toronto-based workhorses are on the road just about every time I take a peak of their schedule and not only is their star rising each and every time they go back west to Kelowna or make that trip down to NYC for a sold out gig, but all of this travelling has seriously done something to their sound.

The band’s 2006 self-titled EP was a terrific introduction, establishing their tastes in a number of British rock-isms (shoegazing, early “Britpop,” indie pop as far-reaching as the Field Mice to the Smiths) with lush, expansive guitar textures that gelled with Ben Spurr’s romantic vocal quiver for simple yet pretty harmonies.

Flash forward two years, and here we are with the Coast v2.0. The lead track from their forthcoming album, Expatriate (out April 1), “Tightrope” finds Spurr, Ian Forsbery and brothers Jordan and Luke Melchiorre hopped up on jet fuel* for a complete resurgence. Gone is the EP’s Death Cab-like vulnerability, and in its place is a forthright blast of unbridled confidence: unexpected synth oscillations, interweaving guitar jangle enhanced with anabolic distortion and stunningly layered vocals come at you like a ton of bricks, topped off by a gang chant yelling “Hey, hey, you!” — all a telltale example of Expatriate’s poise and brimming promise. The coda asks “What are you waiting for?” It’s a fitting question that will hopefully be answered aplenty when April comes rolling around.

*The Coast are professionals. Kids, do not try getting hopped up on jet fuel at home. - Exclaim Magazine

Making good on a promise
Toronto’s The Coast aren’t content to, well, coast
Published April 3, 2008 by Jason Lewis in Music Previews

Toronto’s The Coast would rather be fun than glossy on their debut full-length, Expatriate
DETAILS
The Coast
Warehouse Nightclub
Friday, April 4 - Friday, April 4

More in: JunoFest '08
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Warehouse Nightclub
The introductory EP — it’s a time-honoured tradition in indie-rock. It’s also a double-edged sword.

When a band is ready to unleash their music on an unsuspecting public, there’s no better way to do it than by loading up a short-player with five of your best tracks. Then again, you might blow your load early, leaving nothing for your full-length. It has happened to many a band, but not Toronto’s The Coast. They dropped a solid self-titled EP in 2007, but it’s nothing compared to the amped-up pop they deliver on 2008’s Expatriate.

While the EP shimmered with thoughtful dream pop, Expatriate showcases a considerably tighter band. The instrumentation is more intense, the tempo is jacked up a few b.p.m. and, most importantly, the songwriting has been streamlined. According to guitarist-vocalist Ben Spurr, that’s no accident.

“After we released the EP, we went on a tour across the country,” he says. “When you are playing outside of your hometown… there is much more of a need to draw people in. You can’t expect the audience to come to you. So we started to play a little differently, play a bit more punchy and… have stuff that was just more immediate.”

It’s an evolutionary step that has made all the difference. Expatriate is loaded with crisp, radio-ready gems. From the jerky hook of album opener “Tightrope” to the chugging fuzzed-out vocals of “Floodlights,” this is a cohesive record that fulfils every promise made by the EP and even delivers some new surprises.

“Some of the songs on the EP are concerned with songwriting and structure and it ended up being a bit glossy,” says Spurr. “On this record, it was like, let’s not be so careful. Let’s have fun and see what different things we can do and explore things. It ended up being more punchy and… more diverse, because we wanted to explore things and do things we hadn’t done before.”

Now that the album is complete, the band hasn’t wasted any time bringing their music to the masses. Most outfits would be content to, well, coast, but not this lot. The requisite MySpace page has translated into thousands of hits for the band, but Spurr and his colleagues know there’s no substitute for good old-fashioned touring. To make the most of Expatriate, The Coast have spent the better part of six weeks on the road to and from the much-ballyhooed South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas. Further increasing their profile, the band lands in Calgary smack dab in the middle of JunoFest. Given the intense logistics of their recent tour, The Coast haven’t even had a minute to think about how to follow up Expatriate.

“As soon as we get home again, we’re going to start writing,” says Spurr. “To use a cliché, it seems like kind of a whirlwind at the moment.” - Calgary FFWD

Made in Canada
The Coast come from a land of breastfeeding dayjobs where the rock community is supportive, and MTV is cool


The Coast is clear, but they are a little bit in the dark.

PROFILE. When it comes to his dayjob, Ben Spurr is so far past his bandmates’ giggles and quips. He works in the Toronto office of a non-profit organization that promotes breastfeeding. The Coast singer and guitarist has had every guffawing angle covered. His bandmates, who work in rival retail fashion stores, now have to be content with making digs at each other. “They’re enemies ya know?” says 23-year-old Spurr with a laugh.
Yes, yet another band from Canada, the land of indie-rock-a-plenty it seems. “Toronto’s a weird place. It seems like a big city but it’s not. Everyone knows one another. It’s very supportive,” he says softly.
The Coast is just one swirly pop-oriented self-titled EP old. However, the foursome has been playing together since high school, long before they stole the title of a Paul Simon song for their name.
Simon is something of a role model. Unlike most young bands who make a raucous punk noise in high school and then learn how to write songs, The Coast started by honing their song craft and then loosening up.

“We were convinced we could write songs from the start,” admits Spurr. “We got stuck in the Richard Ashcroft ballad kind of stuff, which can weigh you down when you’re young and don’t have too much experience. Now we’re less structured.”
That new sound is taking shape in the newly recorded songs that will constitute the band’s debut full-length, projected for a spring release. This is a band that doesn’t seem to rush things.
“Our label wants to get all the ducks in a row,” Spurr says. So far, the ducks have lined up nicely, and word is getting out. The band had a song on the MTV reality show “Newport Harbor.”


“It’s about blond girls who are rich and have problems with their boyfriends,” Spurr says somewhat disparagingly. However, unlike most musicians, he isn’t about to knock MTV.

Especially MTV Canada, which doesn’t have any music video broadcast rights, he says, so bands play live.
“Us and a bunch of our friends were on, playing live,” he says. “It’s really cool that they show these bands that otherwise wouldn’t have the exposure.”
MTV cool? Who knew? - Metro Boston

THE LP QUESTIONNAIRE/PICK THREE - BEN SPURR OF THE COAST

THE LP QUESTIONNAIRE/PICK THREE - BEN SPURR OF THE COAST

The great country of Canada produces some of the coolest bands… Rush, The Band, Arcade Fire, Sloan, Tegan and Sara, Neil Young and Crazy Horse… and we all know how I just love Triumph…

Along comes The Coast with the kind of sublime pop that feels so familiar, with songs that take you by the heart to the place where it’s fall and there’s a snap in the air and that cute guy/girl you have a crush on is walking you home and suddenly you’re both running because the moon eclipsed and all you see are stars.

Okay, err, back to reality here. It’s my lucky day to bring you Benjamin Spurr, lead singer and guitarist of The Coast. You can catch the boys on Thursday during SXSW Music at 9pm at The Wave.

The LP Questionnaire

Name: Ben Spurr
Pro Wrestling Name: Jack Gravy, apparently

1. Pretend you’re 15 (and tell us what year it is, if you don’t mind). Name three songs you’d put on a mix tape for your girlfriend/boyfriend.
It’s 1998. I’d probably put on “Sonnet” by the Verve, “So Cruel” by U2, and “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes", by Paul Simon. She would not appreciate any of them, and then start making out with my brother. ‘98 was a rough year.

2. Which evil villain would make the best president? Stalin.

3. What was your favorite cartoon as a child? I think it was Bravestarr. He was a space cowboy who policed a small town on a planet where people mined for crystals, and he had a mechanical horse named “Thirty/Thirty,” like the gun. But I’m sure I don’t have to tell you what a 30-30 is, you’re from Texas.

4. What superpower do you wish you had? To be able to write songs in my sleep.

5. What would the title of your autobiography be? Snack Chip: The Ben Spurr Story

Pick Three

Martha Wainwright: I want to see Martha Wainwright because she’s got such an amazing voice and I’d love to hear it live, and I never have before. Hearing a beautiful voice in the flesh is sometimes the best kind of music.

Put the Rifle Down: I’m excited to see Put The Rifle Down, some friends of ours from Toronto who put on a great show. It’ll be cool to meet up with them down there.

(Bummer that Put the Rifle Down are no longer on the sched. As ever, keeping Pick Threes intact is just how I roll.)

R.E.M.: I also want to see R.E.M. The last time I saw them was one of my favorite concerts, an outdoor show on Yonge street in Downtown Toronto. People were hanging out of windows all down the street.

Okay, I confess I have no idea what a 30-30 is and that’s probably for the best. Believe it or not I have three more features scheduled for tonight so ya’ll come on back now, ya hear? Email mittens that are smitten to musicblog@sxsw.com. I loved the smokin’ labbit until I got burned, - SXSW