COIN performed their first concert at Belmont University in 2012. The band’s four members—then Belmont students—found quick success the very next year, selling out their first show.
2015 saw the release of their first album, created under the oversight of illustrious producer Jay Joyce. That self-titled album, alongside its lead single “Run,” propelled COIN into international success. The band was hailed by Billboard as an act that was “destined to break the Nashville mold.” Nearly a decade after their first concert, one can clearly see that they have done exactly that, traveling from coast to coast to perform audiovisual spectacles of lights, smoke and synth-driven pop tunes.
COIN was one of the headlining acts of Live on the Green, a free outdoor music festival presented and produced by local radio station Lightning 100. Compared to the sonic acupuncture of the Strokes (and the new wave bands of a similar cloth), COIN brings energy without much abrasion. The entire show was roughly 90 minutes of smooth sailing through a sea of punchy synths and on-the-grid drumbeats punctuated by occasional atmospheric guitar leads. Indeed, from the first vocoded verses of the concert opener “Learning,” the masses of people on the lawn were lured into a high school prom-like trance.
The band continued with “Watering a Dead Flower” and “Chapstick.” The latter track, which is the lead single on COIN’s latest album “Uncanny Valley,” combined dance pop with shades of OK Computer-era Radiohead-isms (namely, distorted vocals, stream-of-conscious lyrics and dialogues about artificial intelligence and technology) to great effect. Ramping up the concert’s energy, the band carried the momentum into “Cutie.” Does the song refer to someone or some… citrus? I found myself not caring about such a question as I lost myself to the raw energy that permeated the venue.
The concert’s middle section seemed to melt into one continuous song. Highlights of the middle 10-or-so-song run included the infectiously dance-inducing cuts “Brad Pitt” and “Boyfriend,” the latter of which eclipsed its Big Time Rush namesake. “I Think I Met You In A Dream” saw guitarist Joseph Memmel taking the lead vocal reins for a song (“Behind the Sea,” anyone?) to great effect.
It bears mentioning that the band’s co-headliner was revealed around this time in the form of… a pug. The pooch’s owner took it upon themself to display him like baby Simba in the beginning of the “Lion King,” receiving cheers from the audience. The dog only served to amplify the already bubbling energy of the crowd, however. Within the smoke and lights of the venue, the concert venue was suffused with an atmosphere of pure joy for the entirety of the show.
With the last four tracks, the concert reached its climax. “Malibu 1992” wrapped the audience in a sonically ethereal blanket, leaving the lot of us clasping friends and partners, swaying side to side dumbstruck. As the song concluded, I truly believed the concert had peaked. I was wrong. Just as Memmel strummed the very first chords of “Talk too Much,” the calm atmosphere of “Malibu” erupted into an avalanche of enthusiasm. I found myself along with hundreds of people screaming along to the chorus: “You know I talk too much/Honey come put your lips on mine and shut me up/We can blame it all on human nature.”
Continuing with “Loving,” singer Chase Lawrence took inspiration from Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder as he physically climbed up the set, still clutching his microphone. COIN masterfully ended their concert with “Crash my Car,” reviving the feverish ecstasy of the crowd established in “Talk too Much” before finally saying goodnight to their home crowd.
COIN may not be alone in the crowded sphere of pop rock, but their performance will nevertheless be etched upon my mind for years to come. Between smudged eyeliner, dorky dances and airborne canines, COIN had us in a state of giddy, childlike fervor.
