The best way I can describe Coolidge is as a sort of ‘prequel supergroup.’ All of the members are now well-known for their contributions to indie rock, though none of them were very well-known at the time, and Coolidge remains a fairly obscure blip on the map of alternative music.
Formed in 1992, the band featured Damien Jurado on bass and vocals, David Bazan (Pedro the Lion, Headphones, Lo Tom) on drums, and Eben Haase (Blenderhead, Don’t Know) on guitar. They played an intense and unique form of emo-core that interweaved lo-fi indie rock into the mix. They released a couple of demos and landed a song on the Tooth & Nail compilation, I’m Your Biggest Fan Volume One, which featured a range of T&N bands, unsigned bands, and a few bands from other labels, all in punk/emo/hardcore stylings.
Until recently, those were the only recordings available, and as most early demos of later known bands go, those cassettes are immensely difficult to come by. Fortunately for listeners, Jurado released all the band’s recorded material on one CDr through the Made in Mexico imprint in 2020.
There’s something really special about this song. The way it meanders through a few strummed chords, then adds Jurado’s unique vocals, and then all of a sudden . . . well, if you know, you know. And if you don’t I’m not going to ruin the surprise.