The Greatcoats
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The Greatcoats

Austin, Texas, United States | SELF

Austin, Texas, United States | SELF
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"MUSIC REVIEWS: The Greatcoats"

Lazy, daisy, youthful afternoons take musical form in the self-titled album The Greatcoats. Retro rock and humor match up to give you something you want to skip to. Lead singer David Tenczar takes a humble approach and I felt like he was sitting in front of me playing for the duration of the album. The music of today has the tendency to be big-boss corporate and dollar signs are what albums equal. The Greatcoats take a large step in the opposite direction. Every song is personal with a touch of soul. “The Scarce Few” shows how Tenczar incorporates iconic melodies from The Beatles into their tunes. The Greatcoats pushes the envelope of musical possibilities while still reeling in the retro rhythms of the past. It is an interesting mix that surprisingly goes together very well and will surprise many listeners. - Short and Sweet NYC


"The Greatcoats "S/T""

Texas designer David Tenczar chucked the grey corporate advertising world to form his dream band, The Greatcoats. And what a dream it is, full of authentic melodies, double tracked harmonies and catchy hooks all over his debut release. David uses vintage instruments and uptempo beats, and his voice on the a cappella chorus of “Birdsong”is impressive. The guitar strum and vocals on “Come Up and See” are almost a dead ringer for Allan Clarke of The Hollies. The reverence for classic British pop is further evidenced by the inspiring “In England.” The soaring folk pop of “Slow Me Down” is another polished gem that comes closer to Wilco or Ben Kweller with a retro fetish. “Face” is another mid-tempo song that builds along to a strong chorus and is a favorite as well. A simple guitar jangle usually starts off the song, and on “My Dear” it harkens back to those mid-70s singer-songwriter classics. The party atmosphere and descriptive “Lady Lampshade” serves as a study of David’s mastery of melody and lyric. Not a single bad song here, as the atmosphere is mostly cheerful and laid back. He excels with the intimate pop songs, and is less successful with the more commercial sounding “Stop,” but that’s a minor speed bump here, he wraps it all up with the expansive sound of “The Scarce Few.” One of the more inspired debuts this year. - Power Popaholic


"The Greatcoats "S/T""

Texas designer David Tenczar chucked the grey corporate advertising world to form his dream band, The Greatcoats. And what a dream it is, full of authentic melodies, double tracked harmonies and catchy hooks all over his debut release. David uses vintage instruments and uptempo beats, and his voice on the a cappella chorus of “Birdsong”is impressive. The guitar strum and vocals on “Come Up and See” are almost a dead ringer for Allan Clarke of The Hollies. The reverence for classic British pop is further evidenced by the inspiring “In England.” The soaring folk pop of “Slow Me Down” is another polished gem that comes closer to Wilco or Ben Kweller with a retro fetish. “Face” is another mid-tempo song that builds along to a strong chorus and is a favorite as well. A simple guitar jangle usually starts off the song, and on “My Dear” it harkens back to those mid-70s singer-songwriter classics. The party atmosphere and descriptive “Lady Lampshade” serves as a study of David’s mastery of melody and lyric. Not a single bad song here, as the atmosphere is mostly cheerful and laid back. He excels with the intimate pop songs, and is less successful with the more commercial sounding “Stop,” but that’s a minor speed bump here, he wraps it all up with the expansive sound of “The Scarce Few.” One of the more inspired debuts this year. - Power Popaholic


"The Greatcoats to Release Self-titled Debut"

While he has spent time in New York and Los Angeles, to record the self-titled debut from The Greatcoats [MySpace], David Tenczar, songwriter and frontman, returned to his Austin roots to finish the record. The album will be released on March 9th and he’ll be banding together with his usual cadre of musicians for promotional dates and, hopefully, a tour.

To quote the band, you’ll definitely find that “the music of The Greatcoats is, at heart, music that reminds you of better times.” It’s retro-rock (think The Beatles, Supergrass or Wilco) but the band is fresh and honest with the insatiable hooks of veteran pop masters like Simon and Garfunkel (especially on “Slow Me Down”). - Radio Exile


"The Greatcoats to Release Self-titled Debut"

While he has spent time in New York and Los Angeles, to record the self-titled debut from The Greatcoats [MySpace], David Tenczar, songwriter and frontman, returned to his Austin roots to finish the record. The album will be released on March 9th and he’ll be banding together with his usual cadre of musicians for promotional dates and, hopefully, a tour.

To quote the band, you’ll definitely find that “the music of The Greatcoats is, at heart, music that reminds you of better times.” It’s retro-rock (think The Beatles, Supergrass or Wilco) but the band is fresh and honest with the insatiable hooks of veteran pop masters like Simon and Garfunkel (especially on “Slow Me Down”). - Radio Exile


"Album Review: The Greatcoats - The Greatcoats"

I like fudge. Its fundamental richness is so densely concentrated that a single bite overwhelms the taste-buds with an avalanche of sugar, butter, and cocoa. The rush is immediate – the brain releases endorphins that trigger deep pleasure centers, and the richest of the stuff, so dense with sweetness, make cheeks flush and pinpricks of perspiration dot the brow. But this immediate high is both a blessing and a curse. The first bite is so perfect that it requires another, but the second bite can never be the first’s equal. The tongue becomes slightly dulled to the flavor, and the brain does not experience the surprise that first gave rise to the initial, intense pleasure. Moreover, not all fudge is great, or even good. Sometimes it is (somehow) too sweet. Other times, the consistency is off, or the balance between butter and sugar is imperfect. And that renders the high less intense, and dampens the desire to eat more.

The Greatcoats self-titled (and criminally self-released) debut wants to be perfect musical fudge and, at times, it succeeds. Swirling vocal harmonies, bouncy rhythms, and catchy singalong choruses, all wrapped into under-four-minute bursts, trigger pleasure centers in the brain, flushing the cheeks, moving the hips, and creating a demand for more. The first proper song of the album – after the Fleet-Foxes-lite vocal harmony exercise, “Birdsong” – “Come Up and See” embodies that perfection. The guitars chime their happy melody, drums amiably provide a solid backbone, and overdubbed vocals swirl and dance around the main lyrical line, which exhorts the listener to have a drink, relax, stop staring at your feet while you walk, and “come up and see” the beautiful world so that you don’t miss a thing. It’s a timeworn sentiment, but one delivered beautifully. A delightful morsel of aural fudge.

But unfortunately, if perhaps inevitably, the subsequent morsels, or at least those that attempt to recreate the perfection of this first bite, are pleasant if never quite as good. Sometimes the sentiment comes off a bit too sugary-sweet (“In England” and “The One in Sun”), the hooks aren’t quite as catchy (“All Over”), or the song, while well-balanced, just doesn’t rise to the same scrumptious level (“My Dear”). They’re all good listens, but they blend together and don’t create the same singular high as the first.

Instead, after the giddy joy of listening to “Come Up and See,” the most welcome tracks are those that break slightly from the mold. “Face” is a more staccato and welcome twist on the Greatcoats’ otherwise fluid musical dynamic. And “Lady Lampshade” is a memorably strange psychedelia-influenced rocker that takes inspiration from a different, and later, section of The Beatles’ oeuvre. These songs present pleasing avenues for later exploration for David Tenczar, the voice and, apparently, only consistent member of the Greatcoats (“Stop,” on the other hand, is his straight-ahead, derivative, and boring take on Del-Amitri-styled alt-rock. This, I pray, is not a vein he continues to mine). Even when Tenczar doesn’t quite hit upon musical perfection, his lyrics provide additional interest, ranging from brash come-ons in “My Dear” (“Because I know / it’s my role / to make sure that you get off”) to an exceedingly clever throwaway verse in “The One in the Sun” (“Forward, backward, moving forward again / sliding sideways and then moving in / I miss the mark just like a kiss to the chin / I readjust and then I kiss you again”).

In other words, this is a very good and hopeful debut from a band that deserves label support. Sure, I don’t know if I want The Greatcoats to keep making morsels of perfect fudge or if they should branch out to other delicacies, but either way I look forward to sampling what they come up with.

- Michael Rich
- TRACER


"Album Review: The Greatcoats - The Greatcoats"

I like fudge. Its fundamental richness is so densely concentrated that a single bite overwhelms the taste-buds with an avalanche of sugar, butter, and cocoa. The rush is immediate – the brain releases endorphins that trigger deep pleasure centers, and the richest of the stuff, so dense with sweetness, make cheeks flush and pinpricks of perspiration dot the brow. But this immediate high is both a blessing and a curse. The first bite is so perfect that it requires another, but the second bite can never be the first’s equal. The tongue becomes slightly dulled to the flavor, and the brain does not experience the surprise that first gave rise to the initial, intense pleasure. Moreover, not all fudge is great, or even good. Sometimes it is (somehow) too sweet. Other times, the consistency is off, or the balance between butter and sugar is imperfect. And that renders the high less intense, and dampens the desire to eat more.

The Greatcoats self-titled (and criminally self-released) debut wants to be perfect musical fudge and, at times, it succeeds. Swirling vocal harmonies, bouncy rhythms, and catchy singalong choruses, all wrapped into under-four-minute bursts, trigger pleasure centers in the brain, flushing the cheeks, moving the hips, and creating a demand for more. The first proper song of the album – after the Fleet-Foxes-lite vocal harmony exercise, “Birdsong” – “Come Up and See” embodies that perfection. The guitars chime their happy melody, drums amiably provide a solid backbone, and overdubbed vocals swirl and dance around the main lyrical line, which exhorts the listener to have a drink, relax, stop staring at your feet while you walk, and “come up and see” the beautiful world so that you don’t miss a thing. It’s a timeworn sentiment, but one delivered beautifully. A delightful morsel of aural fudge.

But unfortunately, if perhaps inevitably, the subsequent morsels, or at least those that attempt to recreate the perfection of this first bite, are pleasant if never quite as good. Sometimes the sentiment comes off a bit too sugary-sweet (“In England” and “The One in Sun”), the hooks aren’t quite as catchy (“All Over”), or the song, while well-balanced, just doesn’t rise to the same scrumptious level (“My Dear”). They’re all good listens, but they blend together and don’t create the same singular high as the first.

Instead, after the giddy joy of listening to “Come Up and See,” the most welcome tracks are those that break slightly from the mold. “Face” is a more staccato and welcome twist on the Greatcoats’ otherwise fluid musical dynamic. And “Lady Lampshade” is a memorably strange psychedelia-influenced rocker that takes inspiration from a different, and later, section of The Beatles’ oeuvre. These songs present pleasing avenues for later exploration for David Tenczar, the voice and, apparently, only consistent member of the Greatcoats (“Stop,” on the other hand, is his straight-ahead, derivative, and boring take on Del-Amitri-styled alt-rock. This, I pray, is not a vein he continues to mine). Even when Tenczar doesn’t quite hit upon musical perfection, his lyrics provide additional interest, ranging from brash come-ons in “My Dear” (“Because I know / it’s my role / to make sure that you get off”) to an exceedingly clever throwaway verse in “The One in the Sun” (“Forward, backward, moving forward again / sliding sideways and then moving in / I miss the mark just like a kiss to the chin / I readjust and then I kiss you again”).

In other words, this is a very good and hopeful debut from a band that deserves label support. Sure, I don’t know if I want The Greatcoats to keep making morsels of perfect fudge or if they should branch out to other delicacies, but either way I look forward to sampling what they come up with.

- Michael Rich
- TRACER


Discography


Debut album: The Greatcoats
Available to public for streaming at http://www.thegreatcoats.com/
1. Birdsong
2. Come Up And See
3. In England
4. All Over
5. Slow Me Down
6. Face
7. The One In The Sun
8. My Dear
9. Lady Lampshade
10. Stop
11. The Scarce Few

Find Someone Else EP - will released 11/29/11
Available to press for streaming at http://www.thegreatcoats.com/press/
1. Find Someone Else
2. My Next Great Story
3. Still Young

Photos

Bio

Based in Austin, after stints in New York and Los Angeles, front man and former solo artist David Tenczar has expanded The Greatcoats to include Brandon Stein on drums, Jay Cesak on bass and vocals, and Greg Rosenbaum on lead guitar.

Evading predictable melodies at every corner and twisting songs to resemble the likes of The Beatles, Dr. Dog, and The Hollies, their self-titled debut album is rich with upbeat instrumentation and lush harmonies that make the music complex and engaging.

Leaving behind the acoustic guitar and the home studio recording style synonymous with their debut, The Greatcoats' new sound is full of energy. The "Find Someone Else" EP gives you a satisfying taste of their unique brand of music, and leaves you with a sense for what is still to come. The tracks are simple but layered, slick but not over-polished.

Following their SXSW debut this past March, The Greatcoats are carving their name into the Austin independent music scene.