Magnets & Miracles from In My Coma – CD Review

Magnets & Miracles (2011) from In My Coma CD Review

April 23 2012 – In My Coma is a Toronto based band composed of Jasper James (Vocals and Guitars), LauraDoll (Bass) and Mike Paterson (Drums). We first encountered In My Coma during Canadian Music Week 2012 for their gig at The Painted Lady. We really enjoyed their live show and took it upon ourselves to interview the band and find out more about them. During that interview lead singer/guitarist Jasper James tells us that their album Magnets & Miracles is “a concept album filled with radio songs as well as musical interludes”. Today we review that album.

In My Coma Live at The Painted Lady

Magnets & Miracles is In My Coma‘s first album and was released in August 2011. The album was recorded at Sounds+Sights Studios and was produced by Trevor Kustiak. The 15 tracks are beautifully laid out with complex interplay between guitars and synthesizers as well as vocals and percussion. Lets take a look at this album track by track.

1. Friendly Fire: The first track introduces the listener to James’s powerful yet subdued vocals and emphasizes In My Coma’s synthesizer side. This song is a bit on the softer side and not indicative of the rest of the album.

2. Lined Up Locked Away: The song starts off with a synth introduction and lulls the listener into a false expectation of what the song will sound like because about 45 seconds in we get assaulted with a hard and heavy back end of drums and bass. James’s vocals are more urgent now but still maintains his characteristic style of stretching out the words. It also features a short guitar solo and picks up speed as the song progresses. One of my top 3 favorite tracks on the album.

3. Losing Sleep: An infectious song, that is a bit slower than Lined Up Locked Away but establishes In My Coma‘s unique sound. Clearly a candidate for air play with its radio friendly chorus and strong guitar overdubs.

4. Hit Them Down Kid: It’s as if this title was written by James for James. He doesn’t just hit us down with this hard rocker he nails us down on our ass. Definitely one of the faster songs on the album this one should be cranked to 11 while driving fast on a hot summer day.

5. One More Black Hole: Short musical interlude that could have been used by Rush as their overture to the 2112 album! The only thing I didn’t like about this one is that it was too short, I would have loved a 7 minute version of it. (Hey Jasper -maybe live in concert!)

6. Lost: We are starting to see a pattern on this album where the songs vary from In My Coma‘s slower style to their more aggressive tone. This one slows things down again from Hit Them Down Kid.

7. Believe Me: The first half of the album clearly shows how In My Coma has a distinct sound with great production and Believe Me continues this aural assault. The song is a pretty straight forward medium tempo rocker with a nice guitar ending.

8. Magnets & Miracles: Just a 13 second vignette which in the old days would have indicated side 1 is over, time to flip the record to side 2.

9. Homesick: Great alt-rocker with a dark moody tone of the vocals. James pleads “Change me from the man I am” over a hard thumping from Paterson’s drums and LauraDoll’s bass groove. This one is a perfect example of In My Coma‘s ability to drive that hard sound in a uniquely understated manner. The stadium chants of “Hey… Hey” found throughout the song is a great complement to the overall experience.

10. Crazy World: A bit harder than Homesick but that wall of thunder that Paterson and LauraDoll provide continues to this one. As I write this review I listen to the CD, but when this song comes on I stop writing, crank the shit out of this one on my headphones and close me eyes to enjoy.

11. Trip Denes: The vocals on this one is a bit different than the rest of the album, but the sound is unmistakably In My Coma. Faster paced and layered vocals make this one yet another In My Coma Classic.

12. Voices: My favorite track on the album. Full stop. This is exactly our type of song and is by far the hardest song on the album. Full on assault from the first moment and by the time we get to the “ew ew ewwww” chorus, you will be singing along if your not too busy head banging. Guaranteed.

13. Dreamers: Taking a 360 degree turn from the previous song, Dreamers slows the pace quite a bit. The song features a great balance of music and vocals.

14. My Friend: The first time I heard this song I had to do a double take and listen to it a second time while reading the lyrics on the CD liner notes. Not only is this a beautiful song musically but lyrically it is what music is supposed to be. Powerful, moving, memorable and a catharasis for both listener and artist. The raw emotion in James’s lyrics and vocals are undeniable. I had to ask him what this song is about and here is what James had to say “It’s about a day I experienced a while back. The event on that day really tore my family apart and it was a struggle to get through it, but we eventually moved on and we did it together. I wrote “My Friend” when I was 16 years old and it’s about that day. To date, it’s my favorite song of all the songs I’ve written. It was a terrible day, but that’s the first time I’ve fully let loose by writing a song about it. It was a healing experience and I don’t know what I would have done without that song.“

15. Dying Star: Instrumental outro to the album and to My Friend.


Verdict: 4.5 out of 5. Kudos to In My Coma for creating a Canadian Indie masterpiece. The varied pace of the songs make this album a pleasure to listen to from end to end. If you like your music loud and rocking chase down Voices, Hit Them Down Kid or Lined Up Locked Away. Take a minute or two out of life and listen to My Friend and gain from its strength. In fact buy this album and listen to it end to end 5 times, we are certain it will be a mainstay on you playlist.

Contest Alert: Autographed Magnets&Miracles from In My Coma

WORLD EXCLUSIVE CONTEST: We have one autographed copy of the Magnets & Miracles CD to give away to a lucky reader. To enter:
1) like our Facebook page and In My Coma‘s Facebook page 
2) leave a comment with your name on the comment section of this CD review
Winner will be picked randomly from all the comments on June 21 2012.

You can catch In My Coma live:
April 27 2012 at Maxwell’s Music House in Waterloo, Ontario
May 10 2012 at the Spring Music Festival in Hamilton, Ontario
May 11 2012 at the Music on Main Festival in Simcoe, Ontario
June 8 2012 at Cherry Cola’s Rock N Rolla in Toronto, Ontario

Author: T-Mak