Coaster – Painted Faces (Tiny Room Records)

Like the kind of conversation that makes the rest of the room disappear, Coaster celebrates the people that give meaning to their lives – with typical slowcore solemnity. Their debut LP Painted Faces plays like an anthology of subdued get-togethers, placing lead singer Bart Appel’s inner monologues squarely in the middle of the Dutch band’s brisk and brimming folk-soaked sound.

Almost immediately upon their first encounter, Paul Dijkman knew he wanted to partner up with his classmate Bart Appel and jam. And though Appel had initially held off collaboration, his qualms quickly evaporated as the two bonded over their love of Alex G, Red House Painters, Low and Duster. After some brief forays into other genres, Coaster soon became the inseparable slow folk unit it is today, rooted in an acoustic back-and-forth but continuously expanding.

The duo’s first full-length effort, Painted Faces, is reminiscent of a house party spent on a comfy couch in the corner somewhere – spectating, ruminating, missing your friends while they’re still in the room. It is life lived in slow-motion. An ode to time spent together, as well as all the ‘nights that won’t happen’ – a line that…  more