5 out of 5

Label: no label (digital release)

Producer: The Can’t See?

Echoes of 764-Hero?  Sure.  Some of the looseness of Magic Magicians?  Yeah.  But The Can’t See – John Atkins blink-and-you-missed-it group who dropped a free release and then disappeared – sound more assured than either of those projects, not needing to stick to the definite Up! records vibe from which 764 was birthed and, whereas Magicians were forever a side project, immediately able to convince the ears that you’re hearing a full-fledged band.

‘Coma Comma’ might not be a flawless album – a couple songs verse-chorus maybe once too many times (‘You Do What You Can’) and the rough and raw closing number (the title track) doesn’t need to exist thanks to the honesty that Atkins always brings to his singing style and lyrics, similarly rendering the ‘reprise’ of this song’s theme that kicks off the album rather pointless – but the head-bobbing, toe-tapping, wry-smiling enjoyment that comes from the meat of the disc – all those songs inbetween the beginning and end, blessedly sequenced – that wonderful slab of simply good music rockets the release into great, frequently re-listenable territory.  Sweetening the deal are John’s lyrics: insightful and poetic whilst maintaining a common man appeal, sad and snarky without slipping into a predictable mood: it is the cynical exploring of Atkin’s words that’s helped make all of his projects more than just Seattle knock-offs, and ‘Coma’ finds the musician in a sweet spot that can encompass pop (‘Fall in Love Suffer and Die’ AND AWARD FOR BEST SONG TITLE EVER), jangle (‘Your Friends’), and the classic moodiness of 764 (‘November December Whenever’), dressed up by little touches of sprightly guitar or beat samples, gracefully carried along by keyboardist Ken Jarvey and Thomas Wright’s swooning drumming, all of it shooing away the over-produced final -Hero album, ‘Nobody Knows…’

‘Coma Comma No More’ is that rare example of something perfectly balanced, where not every single moment is flawless, but the whole produces such a clean and emotional trip that you can’t help but get wrapped up when hitting play.  It’s like ten years later now or something and we haven’t heard from Atkins since, but he still plays around Seattle… so here’s hoping one day there’s something to follow this up…