Coerce

No Heros Magazine – online www.noheroesmag.com
August 2010

Adelaide’s two best bands, and arguably two of the best Australian bands, teaming up for a split release is exciting. The anticipation of this release among fans of both bands was palpable and the songs presnted here live up to the expectations. Robotosaurus’ input sees the band in a mellow mood with more droning and intense songs, following on from the progression they made with Manhater . While the speed continues on the slow side, the songs just keep getting better. ‘User’ is perhaps the best thing the band has ever recorded. Coerce in comparison sound fluffy, but still with an intensity and driving passion. The six minute ‘Dunamis’ is their highlight. Neither band outdoes the other, and they both shine especially on their fuel, opening track ‘Untitled’. You need this record in your life.
Sounds Like: …Robotosaurus and Coerce having a love child of awesomeness.
Author: Oliver Cation
- No Heroes Magazine

ROBOTOSAURUS / COERCE
Split
Capital Games
Review: Blunt Magazine ISSUE #92 August 2010
Rating: 4 & ½ Stars out of 5
Author: Lachlan Marks

Unlike most modern split cd’s that are no more than an exercise in pointless backstabbing among interstate band buddies, the unholy union of Adelaide’s Coerce and Robotosaurus provides a cohesive ten-track album, an a volatile one at that. Recorded concurrently in local studio Capital Sounds, both teams have their game faces on, cutting back their output to their bones sludgery captured in a high-end production.
Stylistically the pair are closer than expected - Robotsaurus set the table with discordant, bristling guitars like a garage punk band frisbeeing Jesus Lizard and Some Girls records back and forth in the dark, before Coerce move in and knock it the fuck over. Across the final four tracks they expand the formula with even more space, atmosphere and melody, like the lumbering older brother showing up to knock the rest of your teeth out after you have already gone ten rounds with his vicious younger sibling. This is one angry, ugly family that’s well worth hanging out with.
- Blunt Magazine ISSUE #92 August 2010

Opening the nights proceedings were Adelaide band Coerce, who took to the Palace stage to a surprisingly large crowd so early on in the night. Beginning their set with Extortion Turned Publicity and Laneway, the boys of Coerce managed to grab my attention, so I promptly ushered myself to the barrier to have an upfront first hand Coerce experience. Continuing with Hotel Addiction, over the next forty-five minutes Coerce continued to push their way through a setlist full of spine tingling guitar riffs, demolishing drum solos and vocals which blasted the eardrums.
A short but sweet six song setlist was rounded out with tracks from their debut album Silver Tongued Life Licker, with A Sordid Past; This Hex Will Last offering a highlight of the night, but they saved the very best for last with the album’s title track succeeding in providing excellence in progressive rock.
- Fasterlouder.com.au

The next band were definitely a lot more energetic - punk band Coerce leapt to the stage and screamed their lungs out to a shocked Thebby. These guys didn't quite fit the bill for what the crowd was expecting but they definitely did a great job of warming the crowd up - especially when they gave the expectant mob a taste of what was to come by getting the boys from Karnivool out to help sing their final song. - Rip It Up Magazine REVIEWED Dec 11 2009

Coerce are Mike Deslandes, Matt Adey, Karl Roberts and Justin Bond. You may not have heard of them yet, but if Silver Tongued Life Licker is anything to go by, these boys will be making waves in the hardcore circuit very soon. The native Adelaidians blend the furious intensity of At The Drive-In with the post-punk stylings of Fugazi and the result is a somewhat enjoyable take on knife-edged punk music.
Musically speaking, Coerce know their shit, with strong compositions that set them apart from their contenders. Silver Tongued Life Licker showcases their hard rock skills and sweaty punk ethos that is bound to win them fans around the nation as they tour with Karnivool this summer.
Highlights on the new record include The Kitchen, Trance Viper Dance and Yellow Bellied Blind Snake. Trance Viper Dancereels you in with soft guitar noise before you’re hit with a massive explosion of drums and a hypnotic lead solo. The mish-mash timing of the rhythm guitar gives the track edge, as does the high-pitched tortured screams of the vocalist. Yellow Bellied Blind Snake is the kind of song that causes injury in the mosh pit. Heavy thrashing guitars backed up with ripper lyrics of; "oh fuck, I need the pheromones, a yellow bellied fucking blind snake" is sure to feature in all hard rock lover’s wet dreams.
The Kitchen is a softer number that’s mostly instrumental. The quiet guitar noises are haunting and bleak and the one line of vocals is almost poetic; "she pulled her knife out as she watched him fall away, my blood washed sideways as she served away our lives". Silver Tongued Life Licker is a solid debut from a band on the cusp of great things. Coerce’s distinctive blend of hardcore, punk and alternative rock makes for interesting listening and is sure to appeal to fans of the genre.
- by Kathryn Mahina | Sunday, November 29, 2009– www.thedwarf.com.au

COERCE
Silver Tongued Life Licker
Capital Games
ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE - ISSUE 695 October 2009
3 & ½ Stars of 5

Local rockers muscle their way into an increasingly crowded market.
Its easy to compare Coerce’s debut album with local contemporaries like the Nation Blue and international acts like the Bronx – but Silver Tongued Life Licker is more than a mere imitation. These Adelaide/Melbournites are all veteran players, drawing on their experiences in punk and hardcore bands. To infuse this material with an edginess often lacking from heavy, DIY rock. Each track possesses a wide screen quality, the drums are cavernous, the bass withes and kicks and the vocals are ultimately bellowed and yelped, full of bitterness and spite. The guess list reads like a who’s who of Australia’s underground rock but these guest spots don’t crowd out the main attraction.
A band establishing its own niche.
- ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE - ISSUE 695 October 2009

Admittedly Coerce were a bit of an unknown for unknown for myself; they’re a relatively new band from Adelaide launching their debut album, but as the opening discordance rang out it was clear we were going to be treated to a truly mesmerizing performance. Setting on a few comparisons for a band is an impossible task, but they share an ingenious creativity and caustic metal streak with Robotsaurus (another Adelaide band) that’s blended into a furious hurricane of post-hardcore not unlike Refused and touched by Steve Albini. The arrangement of their songs is mind boggling, spattered with time changes and three part vocals shared amongst the members. The varied vocals run the gamut from pensive and harmonious to savagely spate screams and curses. It all combines to grand effect on songs like Silver-Tongued Life Licker – the title track from the L.P.
They’re visually impassioned on stage with guitars flying high and being played wit a vigor that’s inspiring and somewhat intimidating each song treated with the same invigorating energy. So. All that being said if you missed all the tour shows they knocked off with Grim Fandango here in W.A. you missed out on at least one of the best shows I’ve caught this year.
- Author – Tristan Bloomhall

There’s something about South Australia’s four-piece Coerce that sets them apart from the many Refused/At The Drive In influenced bands doing the rounds these days.
Perhaps its because they actually have the musical chops and compositional know-how to pull the sound off. Or it could be the fact there is an honesty about the group that gives the feeling this style of music comes naturally and they’re not just trying to mimic the aforementioned bands. Whatever it is, they do what they do very, very well as they ably showcased at the final show of their trip out west.
Local rock friends Grim Fandango turned in a typically fun, tight and rocking set, with no note out of place and no one in attendance able to keep from moving along to the group’s infectious, catchy, yet still hard-hitting, take on punk rock.
With the bar set high, Coerce too to the stage and launched straight into the menacing Joan Baker’s High Fidelity, form their excellent debut album Silver Tongued Life Licker, released this month.
Laneway was an early highlight and an example of the band’s songwriting skills, with its trippy yet catchy intro building into a rollicking, unrestrained hard rock album.
With a sound akin to Queens of the Stone Age’s First It Giveth, Extortion Turned Publicity had the crowd nodding along and its extended palm-muted riff outro crowd’s approval.
After a set covering most of Silver Tongued Life Licker, the boys said their thank-you’s before finishing off with a rampaging rendition of the albums title track, leaving in attendance with the distinct feeling that if more people get the chance to hear Coerce do their thing, the next time the group’s in town they’ll be playing a bigger venue than the Hyde’s front bar.
- Review: Sam Jeremic – The West Australian Magazine