Author: Amelia Zeve
In order to write this preview, I needed to answer a question I didn’t really understand fully: who is Coast Modern?
Like a gentle tide, ebbing in and out, Coast Modern flits in and out of my life experience, surging with varying levels of relevance to my current situation. They first truly appeared on my radar when I first heard the song “The Way It Was,” a song unlike any other I’d really ever heard before. It was a twangy and smooth type of electronica/indie pop that I hadn’t heard before, but liked immediately. From there, I started delving more deep into their music, finding more songs that I loved by them.
But that still didn’t answer the question: who is Coast Modern?
Their album art is anonymous, their Spotify devoid of pictures of them, so I set out on a quest to put a face that had played out as the soundtrack for so much of my winter quarter.
I discovered that the band was made up of two LA-based boys: Coleman Trapp and Luke Atlas. They carry the grungy but still put-together vibe of many indie-pop duos, and their music matches that. Although the faces and names of Coast Modern are new to me, the music is comfortingly familiar. The rolling bass and synth riffs pulse like the sound of an ocean, once again linking to the apt name of the band, Coast Modern.
The duo has been together since 2015, when they first started collaborating in LA together. Atlas is actually a Seattle native, so Coast Modern’s stop at the Crocodile will be a homecoming for him.
Since the last time Atlas (and the whole band) has been to the 206, they’ve created a debut album (Coast Modern,which dropped in mid-2017) and created a persona for themselves as artists, showing the world that they’re breaking the surface on the crazy-competitive LA indie scene. With a tour that seems to be stopping every major city in the country, I’m excited to see what they’re gonna do with their Seattle stop—and what they do from here on out. No matter where this wave takes them, I’m excited to see where they land. Listening to their music makes it feel like summer, makes me feel hopeful—and makes me feel like I’m living out the LA-surfer dream we all seem to secretly and collectively share.
Catch Coast Modern, and opener Mikey Mike, at the Crocodile on this Tuesday, April 17th. The event is all ages, and begins at 8:00 PM. Grab your tickets HERE.
AMELIA ZEVE | Living my best music reporter life 😉 | KXSU Arts Reporter