This album is simply magical, breath-taking and ethereal...

....this CD captivated me,and left me spellbound...

Listening to One Track Mind, is like having long, slow sex in a shower of honey...

COAL's spooky, sexy music has been included in several movie soundtracks (including most recently, an independent film called "The Widower") and it's easy to see why: there's something about listening to the lush, smoky sounds of this band that makes you feel like you've been transported to the middle of some Jim Jarmusch-like universe. Coal describes their sound as "psychedelic western noir (they've droppped the word lounge in recent years), but that description hardly prepares you for the rare combination of sadness, strength and hard-won wisdom in singer Nicole's voice, or the wistful introspection in the rhymeless poetry that makes up the lyrics.These are big drifting songs that generally avoid easy hooks, instead building atmosphere out of rich, twangy guitars and hauntingly low cool-sweet vocals. "Invisible Man" is the standout song here (and the CD includes a Quicktime vidoe for it ,directed by bassist Marcus, for those of you whose CD-ROM drives are working), introduced by an enchanting Cramps-like guitar line. And I'll go ahead and spoil the surprise: famed drummer Ian Tiles sings the last song!
-DISCORDER MAGAZINE-

It's been six years since Vancouver's Coal put an album out,though there was their brilliant cover of Motorhead's "Ace of Spades,"released as a one-off single.One Track Mind is less cowboy tinged than previous work,but it's still pretty damn twangy.Nicole Steen continues to croon dreamily about lost love,self-doubt and sundry strangeness.The stand-out is "Anti-Cool,"a tattered slow dance of a song for all those who try hard but can't succeed.Sweet 'n' lonely over-flowing ashtray music.
-EYE MAGAZINE-

Listening to Coal's new album,One Track Mind,is like having long slow sex ina shower of honey.First step is to put all preconceptions aside,for those familiar with Coal might get caught up in past Cowboy Junkies whispering vocal comparisons,but those are the days of yore.Front woman Nicole Steen sings out unabashedly,putting forth slightly(but not overly)twangy melodies;the end result is a Sundays-like softness but accompanied by a sweet,gentle swing.High praise to producer Marc L'Esperance who has captured the band and their sound perfectly,maintaining a crisp sound amidst the languid music.
-EXCLAIM MAGAZINE-

It's kinda funny that this whole thing begins with Motorhead. In '93,Coal released a spectacular rendition of the classic speedball, "Ace of Spades" While past covers featured rockabilly stylings, this one reeked of a mystery-jazz / country-swing fusion drenching Nicole Steen's sweet, lovely vocals over Lemmy's tough words. For once, a cover was more than a novelty. A debut released a year earlier featured more of the same haunting western sounds despairing of love and life.Then ...nothing! Had yet another potential great Canadian band bitten the bullet? Could they bite back?
After wondering about it for five years, Coal answers proudly with One Track Mind. The intensity level, both emotionally and musically leaps out at you, thanks to the expansive "play real quiet / record real loud" production of Marc L'Esperacne. Any past resemblances to lounge and swing are gone, as the power and the pain have firmly taken over. Nicole's vocals have been given the prominence they deserve, as they bith strike and glide across the massive western guitars that just come at you in waves. Atmospheric and ethereal, you're hearing semblances of An April March and Red House Painters as well as Crazy Horse and Tarnation.
Lyrically things ahave been turned up a notch too as Nicole's writing is more focused, but still racked by confusion, guilt fear and vulnerability. She makes pain sound inviting on cuts like "Thin Blue Line" and "Held Suspended." "Anti-Cool" ruminates on fighting against the grain even when you don't want to anymore.
It's been a long wait since the Motorhead cover, but after listening to this, that five year wait feels just about right. Take your time on the next one; we ain't going nowhere.
-CHART MAGAZINE

Second album for the Vancouver trio with the trademark goth-roots style.Nicole Steen's haunted vocals/lyrics are bolstered by tasty guest guitar turns from Kevin Rose and Marc L'Esperance(who also produced).Fans of Tarnation,the Josh Hayden group Spain or most of the current 4AD roster will approve."
-THE RECORD-

At first the idea of "psychedelic western noir lounge" music-which is how the Vancouver based quartet Coal describes itself-seems kind of far-fetched, until I remember that that's pretty much what Ennio Morricone's movie scores sound like and what the semipopular instrumental Friends of Dean Martinez pull off. What Coal left out was "dream pop", which cuts closer to the delicious melodies sweetly intoned by lead singer Nicole Steen on the recent CD One Track Mind, and "goth" which accounts for the dark moods and slow metal guitar work.
-SF WEEKLY-