It's difficult to criticize a band for wearing its influences on its
sleeve when they admit to doing so. It's even more difficult to criticize
a band for wearing its influences on its sleeve when the influence comes
from the classic indie-rock band Archers of Loaf.


One of the perks of listening to CDs weeks or months before you read the
press releases that accompany them is that sometimes you can start writing
little mental reviews in your head, and when you dig up that press sheet in
order to sound knowledgeable when you write your review, you realize the
comparisons in your mental review were dead on. The first time I listened
to Slowcoach's debut full-length, "New Strategies Are Necessary, This Is
Not Solid Ground," I heard a very obvious Archers influence -- the music is
dark, jangly indie rock, and the vocals almost perfectly mimic Eric Bachmann.


Like the Archers, Slowcoach's music is all over the board. One minute
they'll be playing a quick, upbeat punkish song, and the next minute
there'll be a downbeat song with the vocals mixed way to the back,
emphasizing little more than a synthesizer and a drum. And then, before you
know it, the guitars kick back in for another rocker.


As the cliche goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that is
the case, the Archers of Loaf should feel quite flattered at this point. As
listeners, though, Slowcoach remains a rocking band, but one too derivative
and uneven to leave much lasting effect.