Laura Kerry
Phern’s full-length debut, cool coma, sounds exactly like the kind of album that would come out of a lighthearted and lackadaisical afternoon with two talented musicians. And it is. Unemployed as of a couple of years ago, singer and bassist Hélène Barbier and guitarist Ben Lalonde played music together one day to see what they could create together. After inviting Christian Simmons, Sarah Haag, and Michael Wright to the project and perfecting their music together for a year, the quintet has created a full-fledged supergroup with a new sound to rival their other projects in the Montreal underground music scene, including Soft Cone, Sheer Agony, Each Other, and Moss Lime.
The resulting album, presented in the order in which they wrote and recorded it, captures the band’s progression in 14 short-but-sweet songs that are jangly but edgy, peppy but cool, and poppy but off-kilter. Hovering around two minutes, each track is more of a snapshot than a full story. Though the vocal melodies alternate with bright and occasionally screeching guitar parts and animated bass lines in the foreground, the lyrics are often masked behind effects or the impassive chill that Barbier’s voice adopts. When they do emerge, it’s in surrealistic snippets: “Next thing thing I know / There's a pebble in my brain” (“Pebble”); “Everything is fine / I’m erasing my mind” (“Disgusting Mermaid”); and “I would recommend that you don’t cross here” (“Crosswalk Talk”).
The song structures similarly avoid linear progress. Though most tracks follow a standard pop pattern, alternating between parts that could be construed as verses and choruses, they don’t always adhere to the associated tensions and releases or builds. Beginning and ending with the same energy and disguising graspable changes with unexpected intervals and turns, each track is a quick pop rather than a slow burn. The effect is a pleasant combination of disorienting and delightful—a weird breed of guitar pop that doesn’t let the listener fully relax, but also doesn’t let her turn away.
Through trippy experimentalism, though, Phern offers some accessible and magnetic hooks. As the guitars whirl around in “Late Retort,” for example, the bass plays a straightforward, groovy line under hypnotic vocals. In the title track, harmonies in the descending melody recall for a moment before clashing satisfyingly against dissonant guitars. In “Real Nice Guitar,” a sparser, punchier guitar part more clearly establishes the ebbs and flows of a darkly creeping song. It’s even possible to find an earworm or two, including the refrain on “I’m Fine” (It’s okay / You don’t have to marry me”). And even as instruments go off the rails and vocals lull, cool coma maintains a disciplined sense of intention. From a playful afternoon, Phern has created a full, tight, and inventive album.