Coffee Project – Moved On

The concept of singles has kind of lost all meaning to me. I get bombarded with so many of them that I rarely even actually listen to them. I’ll skim them, if it’s decent I’ll wait until I can track down the full album to actually listen to it; and if it’s horrible, I’ll know right away and just delete it. It’s very rare that a single will come and completely blow me away, making me want to hear more from a band that I never knew before.

Coffee Project’s single for This Is Me Getting Over You In Two Chords or Less is one of the only singles in recent memory that made me stop and go actively search for their album. The simplistic acoustic structure, catchy chorus, guest female vocals and soaring trombone just jumped out at me. It played through in under two minutes, and I wanted more.

What I found was Moved On, the duo’s sophomore effort. For those who don’t know, Coffee Project are made up of Less Than Jake trombonist Buddy Schaub and Rehasher‘s Jake Crown playing stripped down acoustic tunes. Now normally you wouldn’t think of acoustic guitar working in conjunction with a trombone, but they have it here and they do it well.

Despite being bare bones, Coffee Project are bubbling with energy and excitement.  The whole album has a laid back sensation, the type of feel that only a band from Florida could accurately depict. A clear highlight comes in the album closer, Big Trouble In Little Gainesville, that sees Crown looking back on life in a little college town.

Moved On is full of songs of redemption, lost, love, life and friendship – with two songs about a dog. Yes, there are love songs written to man’s best friend and the little tongue in cheek lyrics will definitely make you smile.

These are honest, straight forward songs. Strong acoustic hooks, soaring trombone parts and catchy, albeit slightly high pitched, vocals; it’s not always the most mesmerizing but those looking for a laid back jaunt through happy times need look no further than this.