Earlier this year, I wrote about the Brooklyn-based quartet Coastgaard, a band that over the past few years has seen increasing attention across the blogosphere for a jangling, guitar pop sound that draws equally from 60s garage rock and surfer rock, and in a way that compares favorably to Raccoon Fighter and Vampire Weekend, The Smiths and others.
“A Well Adjusted Man,” the first single off Coastgaard’s sophomore full-length Devil on the Balcony pairs upbeat jangling guitar pop with lyrics that follow the psychological makeup and inner monologue of a decidedly average man, who frequently vacillates between brooding self-reflection and self-doubt and self-assured potency — often simultaneously, ultimately revealing that the kingdoms of heaven and hell are actually within.
The recently released, animated video follows the daily exploits of a decidedly average man, struggling to survive through the indignities of working a corporate job, stopping at a local shitty bar before presumably dying in a car accident that quickly sends him to his own hell. Visually speaking, the video reminds me quite a bit of the visuals for Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android.”
You can purchase the album here: https://www.amazon.com/Devil-Balcony-Coastgaard/dp/B019QGUEWW
