Description
Language of Fools is the sophomore album by the American alternative rock band Love Coma, released on R.E.X. Music in May 1995. The album was produced by Michael Roe of the The Seventy Sevens fame.
Love Coma features Chris Taylor on lead vocals, harmonica, and rhythm guitar, Chris Mattingly on lead guitar, and a rhythm section consisting of Jeff Duncan on bass and Chris Dodds on drums.
Love Coma, an alternative band hailing from San Antonio, Texas, offers up its newest release ‘Language of Fools’ with a reworked line-up but no lack of focus. While having lost guitar player Matt Slocum to his now full-time project, Sixpence None the Richer, Love Coma continues to pursue its artistic vision with power and passion.
Love Coma, unlike most alternative bands, has a deep sense of the poetic when it comes to lyrics. They are not simply young musicians looking for words to make pretty sounds within their songs nor are they just purging bile about everything that makes them angry – they are thoughtful and reflective, working to be sure that each word represents what they are trying to do.
‘Language of Fools’ contains songs that have a distinct Christian focus («Tomorrow Takes Too Long», «Summerwind», «Selfless») while others are not focused on faith issues directly, but look to emotions and experiences that believers and unbelievers share («Kill My Inspiration», «Between He & She»). It appears that Love Coma has captured what a sense of wonder it is to work out faith in the midst of a broken, malfunctioning world, to struggle to make a sense of love both human and divine.
Musically, the band is a solid outfit. Far from overwhelming the listener, Love Coma understands the delicate art of tension and release, shifting moods and sounds to obtain the most effect possible. Their sound ranges from jangling guitar (a winning sound from the Byrds to REM) to more atmospheric moods (U2 and Simple Minds). On this R.E.X. debut there are several guest appearances of note, including Mike Roe (of the 77’s) adding guitar to three songs as well as chipping in some production expertise and Mark Hamon (also of the 77’s) adding bass to one song.
Love Coma is a growing, developing group that seems to have an ever growing sense of its own voice, its own musical language. But they are certianly no fools. [Devlin Donaldson, CCM, October 1995]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/language-of-fools/1724897403)
CD tracklist:
01. Entertainment Tonight
02. Walk In The Rain
03. Selfless
04. Astronaut
05. Jigsawman
06. She Was
07. Summerwind
08. Kill My Inspiration
09. Speak Of The Devil
10. Between He And She
11. Wednesday
12. Tomorrow Takes Too Long
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by R.E.X. Music. Available at Bandcamp: https://christaylor.bandcamp.com/album/love-coma-language-of-fools
