Coma Girls – Crystal Pistol

“Tackles the themes of addiction, recovery, and wanting to be a better person with grace and poise. On this journey of self-reflection that is drenched in great guitar sounds and soothing vocals, Coma Girls showcase his staying power in the music scene.” – Chorus.FM

Coma Girls – Crystal Pistol LP (out Oct. 13 via Baby Robot Records)

Since he was a teenager, Chris Spino has played in bands: Punk bands. Jangle-pop bands. Bands influenced by the girl groups of the 1950s and ‘60s. Metal bands. Jazz-rock bands. Weird bands with songs built around weird time signatures.

But all along, he’s maintained a solo project – called Coma Girls for more than a decade – that mined his personal interest in pushing lyrically focused singer-songwriter fare through a filter of spacious shoegaze and psychedelic vibes.

“I’ve played just about every role in every kind of band you can think of, but Coma Girls is me doing what I’ve always secretly wanted to do,” he said, “which is just writing pop songs on an acoustic guitar.”

Spino’s new Coma Girls album – Crystal Pistol (out Oct. 13 via Baby Robot Records) – finds him gently settled into a sweet spot between two of his major influences: Emotionally raw folk songs (think Elliott Smith and Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst) and spindly, fuzzed out garage rock (à la Deerhunter and Jay Reatard). After recording a handful of releases straight to analog tape with Thee Oh Sees keyboardist Tomas Dolas, Spino met his current collaborator, Christian Paul Philippi, who produced 2022’s No Umbrella For Star Flower and returned to the same role for Crystal Pistol.

“No Umbrella was a COVID record that I made with some friends. I got sober last year and wanted to do this new one by myself, but with Christian’s help because we work really quickly and efficiently together,” Spino said. “I wanted to do something that felt a little more clear-headed but still felt ambitious and experimental.”

You can hear that balance on “Candles,” a slow-burning song about the guilt and shame that often comes with addiction. After two minutes of a loping pace, the tune opens up into a sheet of distorted guitars, as Spino repeats an aching mantra over and over: “Leave your candles lit / My pain keeps burning on and on and on.”

Spino is quite open about his past addiction issues: “A lot of the lyrics on Crystal Pistol are about coming out of that and cleaning up my life and really examining the ways I acted when I was an addict, and the ways those actions affected other people in my life.”

That sounds heavy – and it is – but the sentiments are leavened by “Back to the Source,” a bouncy earworm that boasts a nursery rhyme hook and a whole bunch of clever couplets.

“That song is kind of a dagger in that I’m making fun of somebody, but ultimately, whenever I’m making fun of somebody, I’m making fun of myself,” Spino said. “Or I’m trying to teach someone a lesson, but really, I’m learning about myself and areas in which I need to grow.”

And then there’s “33,” a gorgeously somber song Spino wrote early in his sobriety journey that features a painfully repeated refrain – “I can’t take it back” – as a string section and noisy crescendo consume the arrangement.

“Jesus Christ was 33 when he was crucified and I was 33 when I got sober, and I felt like a martyr. I felt like I was being hung on a cross for my sins,” Spino said. “I was like, ‘I’ve been doing all this crazy shit my whole life, and now it’s over.’ But little did I know that my life was just beginning, you know?”

Now 34 years old, healthier than ever and moving ever closer to artistic fulfillment, Spino speaks with a spark in his voice when he talks about where he has been and where he’s going. After years at or near the bottom – partying every night, struggling with drugs, sleeping outside – he’s excited not only about his new album, but about its follow-up, which is already in progress.

“Crystal Pistol feels like one last big trauma dump,” says Spino, “because the writing was done before I got into therapy, and I’ve gained a lot of tools for understanding things about myself and my own trauma.”

Crystal Pistol is a deeply affecting confession through indie rock songs that tend to begin as intimate folk-rock stories and frequently conclude in fuzzy shoegaze chaos. Spino takes us on a self-reflective journey that few would have the courage to explore, and some never come back from.

“I used to think music was a healthy outlet for me to get everything out, but now that I’ve started writing for my next record, I can see that it’s very different,” Spino continued. “There’s a lot of stuff about forgiveness and acceptance and focusing on the good in my life instead of all the bitterness. Because I’ve changed so much in the past year, there’s a lot of good in my life right now, and that’s exciting.”

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“A magnetic combination of shoegaze and folk stylings, retaining folk’s confessional edge amidst the maximalist shoegaze aesthetics.” – Under the Radar Mag

“A diverse, powerful piece of art that anyone can listen to or relate to. The urgency and vitality are palpable.” – Northern Transmissions
“Coma Girls channel the best parts of synth-heavy rock.” – ChorusFM

“Freak-folkish…conjures an MGMT accessible space rock vibe while reelin’ in the weightlessness indie of The Flaming Lips.” – Glide Magazine

“Cutting lyrics and gauzy layers of sound … at once wound and bandage. Spino’s vocal delivery walks the razor’s edge between genuine devastation and sardonic self-deprecation.” – Spill Magazine
“A genre-bending collection that seamlessly blends psych-rock, shoegaze, folk, and country into a cohesive and unique take on modern rock shot through with classic, pop sensibility.” – New Noise

“A shimmering slice of pop-Americana, riding gentle waves of guitar and draped in weepy pedal steel….Hits a sweet spot.” – Buzzbands LA

“Impressive…very intricate electronic jangle pop…like Pavement meets Ariel Pink.” – QRO Magazine

“The bar rock album for the person who doesn’t like bar rock, the pop album for the person who doesn’t like pop.” – Immersive