SHORES
Coup De Grace
(No Idea)
Score: 5

This release definitely took me by surprise. I know John Massel, the drummer on Coup De Grace, from his work with North Lincoln. I was basically expecting something along those lines—gruff, gritty Midwestern punk rock. Coup De Grace doesn’t even come close to that sound though. It’s really more akin to Low or other “slowcore” bands from the nineties. It also reminds me in certain spots of Elliot Smith, especially some of the melodies. If you’re into stuff like that, Shores would definitely be worth checking out. I, however, am not really into bands like that, and found the album boring and slightly too long. Try as I might, (and I gave this considerably more listens than I normally would, for fear that I might be missing something) I just couldn’t get into this record. It’s cool to see folks breaking out of their box a little bit, but this record remains snooze-inducing to me. (RyanH)