2 out of 5

Covers a selection of free-to-download tracks available on the Coke Dares website, culled from “Here We Go With…,” and “The Slow EP” and a track called “Treason.”

Label: Various

Producer: The Coke Dares?

I should like the Coke Dares  ??  because it has dudes from other bands I dig…. because it’s got a quick and sloppy feel to it with a good and brash production crunch…  because at moments the group can produce singles of such harsh addictiveness that they caught my ear on a comp, which is rare …     …So Racebannon are from Indianapolis, and RB related chaps had a track on a compilation called ‘The Pulse from Mid-America,’ on which The Coke Dares contributed one of the most uniquely odd post-punkish/post-something-elseish tracks I’ve ever heard – ‘Emergency Room Blues.’  I STILL love this song, and can listen to it again and again.  Despite the band’s drug-nodding name which I wasn’t too keen on (all drug and sex pure me), I would comb used racks for their album, hoping to stumble across it one day and discover a record full of such gems.  And then I discovered the internet, and then I ordered the album.

Which was “Here We Go With The Coke Dares,” some of the tracks of which are available for free on the band’s website, and I suggest you check them out in case you’re also thinking of buying the album (which I’ll review at a different point).

If I had easier access to the source material (i.e. albums, singles from which they’re culled) of these free songs, I’d get ’em, but since I’m not sure if I have the desire or excess dosh to do so, I wanted to make mention of what I’ve listened to… HERE.  It breaks down as follows:

Tracks from the Slow EP: 1 out of 5.  The CD’s vibe is short and sweet and dirty rock.  These tracks are minus the sweet, and don’t shamble enough to muster up any dirty charm.  They’re just short and without personality.  “Treason”, a Naked Raygun cover: 2 out of 5.  I couldn’t figure out if this was from a single or just on the website.  NR is one of those hit-or-miss groups for me, where I dig the concept more than the songs, mostly, and maybe the original “Treason” is a great song, but once The Dares prove they can play the center riff well enough, the track just sorta drags to nowhere.  Again produced without any shine (committed, I think, live to tape as most of their albums appear to be).  Tracks from “Here We Go…”: 3 out of 5.  On the whole, the album might get a lower rating.  It’s 30+ tracks and just never really changes what it does.  But boiled down to a few select songs, they do their rob of rockin’ out dumb and loud, and someone tweaked the nobs here and gave everyone the extra nudge to shout and play with extra oomph, so it at least sounds good.  Even the five tracks here though don’t stretch far beyond the 1 riff + scratchy vocalist yelping about drugs or “Rocking All the Time.”  Entertaining for a few mins, and then yer done.  Like… done.

‘Kay?