The Miniatures Coma Kid Release Date: February 17, 2004 Label: Maple Music Recordings Rating: Andy doesn't dig rating stuff. The opening track ("Space And Time") on this Toronto collective's latest release is really damn cool. It opens with a big, chopped-up vocal and high, pretty synth noise. The vocals by Ian Smith are low and churning, with a mild grit to them, a little bit of a Daniel Ash (of Love & Rockets) quality to it, and sometimes also is reminiscent of The Soundtrack Of Our Lives. It sounds like it's been run through some more synths too. Not sure if it actually was - it might just be an inherent quality - but it just has that type of sound. There's a lot of percussion seeping throughout the record, but all told, it's not as instrumentally imaginative as seeing them live would suggest. I'd say if you had to choose, save your money on the CD and see them live instead. The energy they have onstage is a lot more fun. The lyrics are a bit hard to decipher. Who knows what the songs are about. It's all wrapped in a mystery. "Dragonfly" is a dancey tune, with a really neat guitar sequence at the end. The title track sounds dangerous. It's got low, tumbling guitars that drone out, but then it peps up to a happier landscape for the chorus. After the third track (which is "Coma Kid") though, the whole disc gears down a bit. This middle chunk has moments that are even somewhat, dare I say, dull at times. "Seeds" brings to mind summertime and beaches (if it didn't have the synth element running through it, that is). It's an interesting pile of tunes though. It reminds me a lot of the fabulous, yet oft-forgotten Spacehog. "Little Bird" has some hard-sounding, loud grungy guitars. But these are punchy pop songs, no doubt about it. Indeed, this less-impressive middle bit of the disc has some perfect moments, but all told, the beginning and end are much stronger. Bluesy vocals come out at times, still very interesting percussion, simple piano tunes, and even some slide guitar. "Guts" has some of these elements, and is actually a pretty sweet tune. Some beats show up late in the song to liven it up a bit. The plodding "Detached Screenwriter" starts off sounding like a 70's-era folk song, with it's mellow guitar plucking and gentle singing. It begins to soar nearer to the end. There's a very movie-esque guitar part, kind of like a (someone's going to shoot me for saying this, but it's just an appropriate analogy) a Bon Jovi soundtrack song (no worries. The Miniatures sound nothing like Bon Jovi. Although Bon Jovi can be kinda fun. Wow, I'm going to get in trouble for that.). It's just so anthemic and feels like there should be a movie filmed just so this song can be included. Appropriate, given the title of the song. Smith can sing very nice in a high voice (on "Never Part"), so it's a bit of a shame he only demonstrates this in one song. Those last few songs are more on par with the excellent opening three. The whole disc goes out on a soft note, completely spun about from where it started. So it runs a nice gamut of musical styles, but the song quality isn't completely consistent. Lyric Of Choice : Why do I punish myself when everything's right? Song Of Choice : "Space And Time" -Andy Scheffler Elsewhere The Miniatures website Published : April 22, 2004.