Review by Keaton McSweeney

Alex Griffin, aka ERMINE COAT, aka The Milky Magnets, has been bashing out lo-fi bedsit jams for a little while now – with most of them being released for free online through his Tumblr. This first full-length release apparently compiles the best sixteen tracks from those earlier EP’s and the results vary from pleasant, to challenging, to downright irritating.

As far as lo-fi goes, this is about as low quality as it gets, so if you’re not a fan of the genre steer well clear of this release. However, if you dig on cheap-sounding acoustic guitar riffs and the odd ear splitting drum track, ‘LP’ is definitely worth a look. The awesomely titled ‘Hail-damaged Nissan’ kicks things off, demonstrating early the sound that dominates this record; atonal lead riffs, indecipherable vocals and a healthy dose of tape hiss.

The album is more or less split down the middle between low-key bedroom pop and grating noise pastiches. ‘Alternate Ending to the Motion Picture Badlands’, ‘Ankles’ and closer ‘Bruce Springsteen’ are all prime examples of the former. While ‘Every Child Should Drown Once’ and ‘Getting Drunk in the Rain’ mask whatever merit those songs may have had with noise seemingly for noises sake. This results in a sound that only the most devout lo-fi fan could find listenable.

But despite its inconsistencies, this is a promising release and with a new album in the works reportedly featuring the production talents of Community Chest ringleader, Adem K, it will be interesting to see where Ermine Coat turns next.