Band Review: Cooler

Cooler was recommended by James Dewees, whom I believe got to see them live in February.

The Buffalo-based indie-emo band has a 2016 EP called Phantom Phuzz, and that title may contain the essence of the band.

It's not just the use of distortion, though that is noticeable. It is also the way some songs trail off (especially on "Nostalgia"), and how sometimes things sound far away; there can be ghosts out there, and you may hear them in the songs.

That is not that the tracks sound particularly supernatural either. It is more a sense of past and memories and feelings that have been unresolved being pulled forward. There is pain, but it can be released.

I enjoyed the older tracks, but 2018's Buried EP is strong. I especially liked the title track and "Quadrillion". For Phantom Phuzz, "Metal Moths" is pretty cool.

One point of clarification: I was first directed to bass player Alley's Instagram, @coolermood, and initially thought that was the name. If you search on "cooler mood", you get led to a different Bandcamp page, for Philadelphia band Small Circle. (And hey, I might just end up reviewing them too, so it's not a problem, but the name of the band is this review is just Cooler.)

It's worth noting that while Buried  and Phantom Phuzz can be found in multiple sources, it looks like 1993 - with the pretty rocking "Stay" - is only available through Cooler's Bandcamp. Also, whenever I clicked play on an EP on Bandcamp, it would skip the first track, so click on the first track for complete listening.

That's all I've got! Relevant links are listed below.


https://www.facebook.com/cooler.music

https://cooler.bandcamp.com/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqhn_8q3h6QaYQw2XoA4_Mw/feed