The Coral, Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, gig review: Re-injecting some genuine personality and craft into their music

The band lock into the deep haze of the West Coast of the US in the 1960s

The Coral

The Coral’s return after a five-year break is one slathered in psychedelic swirls and explorations. Their latest album Distance Inbetween - as well as tonight’s deeply immersive and lysergic light show - seems to lock into the deep haze of the West Coast of the US in the 1960s, acting as their most straight-up psych-rock album to date. “Chasing the Tail of a Dream” sounds booming and crunchy, taking Spacemen 3-like looping guitar drones, melded with their – seemingly unavoidable – desire to coat it in a pop-tinged melody. It’s as a corporeal rendition but a lot of material from the new album feels a little too one-note and the pace and tone rarely alters enough to instil variation or enthrallment in the first half of the set.

The unshakably catchy folk-pop of “Pass It On” “Don’t Think You’re the First” and “In The Morning” are a welcome reminder of the group’s ability to craft concise, breezy yet versatile pop songs, the sort that gave their revived brand of wonky Merseybeat meets spaghetti western such a unique feeling all those years ago. As an ostensible indie band The Coral always managed to inject a genuine sense of personality and craft into what they did and their return to doing so once more is most welcome.