Record Shopping with The Coathangers Issue #39

By Beverly Bryan
Published: March 1st, 2009 | 12:05pm

Most bands have a “quiet one,” but the members of the Coathangers overlap each other with rapid-fire repartee. And since all four wear their dark hair long with heavy bangs, it’s hard to keep track of them as the Georgia band quickly fans out in the vinyl section of Criminal Records in Atlanta’s Little Five Points.

Finding Nirvana
“What do I want?” asks guitarist Julia Kugel. She knew what was on her mental shopping list before arriving at this capacious record store for a Venus Zine-sponsored mini-spree. Bass player Meredith Franco reminds Kugel that she wants some Nirvana and presents her with copies of Hormoaning and Verse Chorus Verse. The Coathangers’ hard-to-miss self-titled debut record appears prominently in the same section. As the cover’s fluorescent design (courtesy of Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox) hints, it’s a chaotic mix of stripped-down rock, ’80s pop, and hip-hop.

Stranded in Atlanta
Drummer Stephanie Luke grabs the Saints’ album (I’m) Stranded and announces she’s getting it for herself, budget notwithstanding. Luke’s always liked the title track but realized she needed the whole thing just the previous night: It was playing when she was hanging out at Rob’s House, the local record label that co-released the Coathangers’ 2007 album with Die Slaughterhaus, another Atlanta label.

Franco-phile
Franco’s having a harder time with her shopping. “They don’t have the one thing I want,” she says. Unable to find the Strange Boys seven-inch she desires, she consoles herself with an issue of High Times featuring actor James Franco. Eventually, the Strange Boys surface along with a White Stripes single. Mr. Franco is discarded. Her bandmates might refer to the comely cover boy as her “husband,” but Jack White has had a place in the bassist’s heart since high school.

Checking Out
Meanwhile, keyboardist Candice Jones has chosen the Holly Golightly seven-inch Listen/Rain Down Rain and George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass. A longtime John Lennon fan, Jones is moving into her George phase after reading a memoir by the late musician’s ex-wife Pattie Boyd. Once Kugel picks out Clinic’s Do It!, the quartet has tapped their $50 budget and is ready to check out. Passing the magazines again reminds Franco of photo shoots the band has to plan. After a flurry of attention for their debut, the Coathangers recently released another seven-inch and signed a contract with Seattle-based indie label Suicide Squeeze for this spring’s Scramble.

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Shopping List:

George Harrison, All Things Must Pass

The Saints, (I’m) Stranded

Clinic, Do It!

The Strange Boys, Woe is You and Me

The White Stripes, Conquest

Holly Golightly, Listen/Rain Down Rain